A taste of summer by the weekend... welcomed by bees, too
Oh yes - it's true.
After a decidedly cool period through most of May to-date, we're now locked into a distinct warming trend for the rest of this week, culminating in temperatures lifting towards the mid-20's C by Saturday.
It's looking like the warmest day of the year so far for many districts by then; likely to remain dry - at least for most, bar an isolated shower or two -Ìýand hopefully with a fair amount of sunny spells, adding toÌýthe quasi-Mediterranean feel.
One beneficiary of the warmer weather will be our native bee population. There's over 200 species in the British Isles, most of them solitary in nature, but all of them tend to share a worrying decline in abundance. and not least in ourÌýwild flowers and for that matter, across continental Europe, too.
To emphasise their plight and help make some amends, the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ is a partner - alongside the -Ìýin a novel project started this week and running through the summer.
'Bee Part of It', the strapline says...Ìýand I'd encourage you to have a look at our ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Breathing Places website for extra details.
And for my part?
Alongside mentioning all this on weather this evening, I bought a dozen packets of varied wildflower seeds from a local supermarket chain and will duly sow the whole lot across our front and back gardens in the coming days.
There's something soÌýuniquely British about spending a warm summer afternoon nestledÌýin the garden (but not missing a Grand Prix in my case, obviously), beneath the ever-changing montage of fair-weather Cumulus clouds,Ìýlistening to the harmlessÌýbuzz of our ever-industrious bees.
Please do what you can to helpÌýthisÌýcontinue!
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Comment number 1.
At 23rd May 2010, Jon in Urchfont wrote:It has been a glorious weekend so far! I'm really looking forward to watching Somerset play cricket in Bath today, couldn't be a better day for it!
It's good to hear you are doing your bit for bees & wildlife Ian. The bees just aren't about in the numbers they used to be. It's such a shame because sitting in the garden listening to the bees buzz & the birds sing is superb. At least I heard something yesterday that I haven't heard for many years - the cuckoo!
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