French wildlife and beekeeping

I have come across plenty of honeybee colonies that have set up home in the roofs of houses, and when necessary, have even been known to remove them when the roof was about to be renovated and it would have been too dangerous for the roofers to work. Otherwise I always encourage people to leave them alone as they present no problems for the homeowners and should be seen as a privilege in the same way as we do when swallows, house martins, wrens and other birds choose to share our property. I have also seen honeybees nest in all manner of other places, old milk churns, compost bins, in windows and so on, but yesterday, one way or another, was a bonus day, (I’m easily pleased). An acquaintance called and asked if I would mind taking a look at what was happening at their house where, for a few days, they had seen activity under the eaves on one corner of their house and weren’t sure if it was bees or wasps. I arrived there at around 10am and really there wasn’t much to see,...

France Becomes The First Country To Ban All Five Pesticides Linked To Bee Deaths. Most of us will have seen this or similarly worded headlines on a myriad of mainstream media sites, blogs, alternative information sites, and sites that are simply clickbait for advertising revenue. Many of these so-called articles are full of sensational, erroneous statements and speculations that have no factual or scientific foundation whatsoever. Large numbers of people will have liked, shared, and commented on these pages without any idea of what the reality is or giving it any real thought.   Most of us do this at some time or another on social media because to do otherwise would be too time-consuming. So what actually is the reality? Yes, France has banned the use of five types of neonicotinoid insecticides that by definition have been shown to cause harm to insects.   This is two more than the EU has banned, although countries frequently derogate from the ban in certai...

Chateau bees. It’s not unusual to get called out to bee swarms and colonies between the windows and shutters of French houses. After all, it's an ideal space if the shutters are closed.   The other day I was called to one in a Chateau, all very straightforward, with a nice-sized window for the Ruchette, (small hive box). Victoria, the woman from the Chateau, wondered if they had come from the bees in the large section of Lime tree trunk from the tree that they had cut down in the late autumn.   Immediately she had my attention, and so the story unfolded. It seems the tree had to be cut down as it had become dangerous, having split in a storm. They insisted that the section with the bees in it be cut out in one large piece, and this was later moved to a suitable location in the grounds, with the open ends covered up to provide protection but with enough gaps for the bees to come and go. Walking down to where it was, I was impressed by the size of it and although it wa...

Purple emperor and Lesser purple emperor butterflies – a simplified life cycle and how to see them. These two butterflies spend most of their time in the woodland canopy where they feed on aphid honeydew, or occasionally when they descend to feed on sap runs or, in the case of the male, animal droppings, carrion or moist ground that provide much needed salts and minerals which are generally the only times we get the chance to see them. Click on images to expand  Above - Male  Above - Female  Both species use willows, principally Goat willow, and in the case of the Lesser Purple Emperor poplars as well, especially Populus tremula , for their caterpillars to feed on. Eggs are placed singly on leaves near the tree canopy and the caterpillars have an extraordinary life cycle that can last 300 days or more with various pauses between each instar change, the last before pupation being a long hibernation through winter in a crevice or branch fork wrappe...

Masked hunter, Reduvius personatus ,  Réduve masque Found in most regions of France this member of the True bug family is known as an Assassin bug and due to its secretive nocturnal behaviour it tends to go unnoticed even when in your home. They are especially fond of old houses, barns and outbuildings where they hunt other insects including bedbugs, silverfish, book lice and flies. However they will eat any number of small insects and can also be found in other habitats including woodland, scrub and grasslands but always avoiding the light. Where ever they are they are never in large numbers. Although they bite and kill their prey by piercing them with their robust rostrum they rarely use this against humans unless handled roughly but if they do it isn't dangerous but can be extremely painful. They spend the winter as juveniles and then breed in May or June having reached the adult stage.   During their development stages, (instars), they exude a st...

Every year in autumn and spring there are articles in the media, especially in the UK, about the Asian Ladybird, Harmonia axyridis , or Harlequin Ladybird as it is known, one of several thousand different non native species introduced in both France and the UK although only a few are ladybirds. This species is generally regarded as the most invasive ladybird on Earth and although they undoubtedly have an environmental impact due to their high breeding and survival rate combined with their voracious appetite most experts are of the opinion that they are now so abundant that there is little if any point in killing them. Harlequin ladybirds, above, are extremely variable but most have a clearly defined "M" or "W" on the pronotum. Although they feed most commonly on aphids they have a wide food range that includes scale insects, adelgids, the eggs and larvae of butterflies and moths, many other small insects including other ladybirds, pollen, nectar, an...

With the aid principally of social media in all its aspects the Pine processionary moth increasingly strikes fear into the population with all the stories about how dangerous they can be. There is certainly no denying their harmful nature should someone or their pet animal come into close physical contact with them or breathe in their harmful hairs but we mustn’t let this lead us into a panic that results in the destruction of our other native hairy or web forming caterpillars that need all the protection that they can get. The first thing to understand is that Pine processionary moth nests are always in Pine trees and only rarely in Fir trees. A caterpillar web anywhere else is a different type of caterpillar. Secondly, when on the ground they will invariably be found in the classic processions “nose to tail” and only very rarely as individuals should they have been blown from the trees by storms. Thirdly, they will only be found on the ground when Pine or Fir trees ...