As I was out doing a check on hives during a fine spell in October, I stood back and watched an ivy covered tree in full flower about 20 metres from a number of hives. The heady smell of the ivy flowers was in the air and there was an audible hum andbuzz about the tree. So I surmised that my bees must be actively working this nectar source. However on closer inspection, it was plain to see that although there were numbers of honeybees working the flowers, the vast majority of the insects were not honeybees at all. There were bumblebees of multiple species, wasps, multiple hoverfly species, solitary wasps and solitary bees.
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