The bees are getting stuck in

I have been keeping an eye on the tubes I put out for solitary bees to lay their eggs in. This week I saw the first one had been plugged up.

I am trying to make a habit of going out to do a bit of gardening after dinner now the evenings are lighter. There is plenty to do. Today it was filling sacks with ivy I cut back. I checked on the bee tubes again and a second has been filled. Now I know they are being used I will order some refills from here.

I have seen various bees around the blossom on our apple trees. Despite having to take one down we still have three.

Also flowering are some alliums that are growing in our gravel. There is a load of lily of the valley around there too. The strange things in the foreground are fish made by kids at the school where my other half works. They had a load to get rid of and they look cool on sticks swimming past our window.

It was sad to find a baby bird that must have fallen out of the nest. Yesterday one of the chickens found a dead mouse. They will try to eat things like that. I am not sure if it is actually bad for them. In any case egg production has gone up since we started letting them have a wander around the garden again after the lowering of avian flu risk.

The endless battle between me and the garden continues.