marciaz3, that is great! I had more bees than ever this year, especially leaf cutters and bumble bees. Morden Sunrise was a favourite for them to cut into and it hasn't recovered yet. I fear due to them and a little rust it may not have the 'stuff' to make the winter.

SCG

I don't think we have leaf cutters here - never noticed anything like this. These are just the normal little fuzzy bees. We've had bumblebees here too but haven't seen any this year.

My question is why do the bees like so much the plants that drive me crazy?? Filipendula, centaurea, cranesbills - the bees love them but i don't!

There's no shortage of bees in my garden; I have a wide diversity of plantings...I saw one that was about triple the size of a normal bee...just about went to grab the camera to take a picture. I didn't think bees could get that big.

Leaf cutters are kinda cool. They only went after 'Morden Sunrise' and my 'Bella Anna' Hydrangea although not much on the latter. At one point you could barely find an undamaged leaf on the rose. Next year I must take pictures.

Lol on the bees choosing those plants. They love the marigolds here.

SCG

I love bees, I have tons and I do everything I can for them. The city sprayed with malathion once this summer for mosquitoes and they do it at night when bees aren't supposed to be flying, but I found a dead bumblebee lying underneath my bee balm right next to the back lane a couple of days later. :(

Bees might not be active at night but i've seen them sleeping on flowers so they're around. I can really understand getting rid of mosquitoes, but i wish there was a better way.

This post was edited by marciaz3 on Thu, Aug 28, 14 at 13:33

northspruce,

Strange that your city in Manitoba still sprays for mosquitoes...the city of Saskatoon hasn't sprayed for years...they do have a larvicide program for the ditches though.

Yeah I have several guests that seem to sleep on their favourite flower every night.

I know I will pay for this comment but I have not seen any bad bugs, other than slugs, this year...No aphids, spider mites and just a very small amount of metallic flea's. Also a very low yellow jacket population......so strange for here.

I am building bee boxes for leaf cutters today to try and encourage more.

SCG

I, believe, this is the same as the one I seen cutting a leaf. I am going to have to get better at ID's on bees.

SCG

SCG, that looks an awful lot like a hover fly, a very beneficial insect at that!

Twrosz, it does. I couldn't get the lighting right on the back for a picture. Looks like a honey bee but darker. It also couldn't fly backwards.

I would love to be educated as I am new to the bug scene.

Thanks again.

SCG

I have a bee hive in my yard so no shortage of bees here. It's those yellowjackets that or always in attack mode.Lots of Bumblebees in the Hollyhocks .And Mason bees as well.

I have a bee hive in my yard so no shortage of bees here. It's those yellowjackets that or always in attack mode.Lots of Bumblebees in the Hollyhocks .And Mason bees as well.