Rounder and larger than other bees, there are over 250 species of bumblebees worldwide. Its distinctive coat is thick and furry allowing it to operate in cooler weather. This ability to fly in the cold normally means it is the first bee to be seen as winter ends and spring emerges.

Bumblebees live in tiny colonies containing 50 to 400 members along with the queen who produces all the female worker bees.

The only survivor of the winter months is the queen who stays alive by taking refuge in undergrowth and thick planted areas. With the winter behind her this hardy bee emerges and begins looking for an appropriate nesting site in which she can lay her eggs and develop her very own new colony.

In order to protect the colony from the elements and attack the queen normally builds it underground taking advantage of old vole nest holes or natural cracks in the earth and even broken paving. Once established she will also create perfectly formed sterile wax cells designed specifically to accommodate her next generation of female workers.

As this population grows these same workers go out and collect the nectar and pollen required to sustain the colony. Towards the end of summer the colony raises up the virgin queens and males required to create future generations. Both of these leave the nest in order to find mates. Once the male has successfully mated it then dies, where as the fertilised female queen seeks out somewhere to hibernate and thus the cycle begins again.



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It is not commonly known but the fact is that most bees are not into communal living. With a flying lifespan of 6 - 8 weeks prior to this they spent approximately a year as pupae in a cocoon.

All females of this type of species are very fertile and will lay approximately eight female and one male egg in a small burrow or tunnel. The burrows are normally in the ground, soft mortar or in wood such as the hollow of trees and reeds.

The larvae spend nearly 12 months just developing in their individual cells emerging in time for spring and as the food they eat is in abundance. Males emerge first with a mission to mate immediately with any female bees they find. At this point he dies leaving the female to look for a new site to nest and continue the life cycle.

Unlike the bumblebee, solitary bees usually specialise in feeding on plant type only which is unfortunate as when the season for that plant dies so does the bee. This results in certain types of Solitary bees being seen at different times of the year.

If you want to encourage solitary bees to nest in your garden, it is quite simply a matter of installing a nesting site. These nesting sites are easy to fit and are basically a bundle of thin tubes which can be made from quarter inch bamboo or garden canes.

To install you simply affix the tubes to a wall or fence in a sunny spot. It is a fun and worthwhile activity to do I recently fixed a nesting site in a gap in some old kitchen ceramic tiles I had used to decorate my porch and can already see pupae forming.



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Pearls are no doubt a very recognizable and popular gemstone, but what is the history behind this precious gem? Pearls have been noted in the history books for thousands of years and made their imprint on old royal society. There is a lot more to pearls however that what meets the eye. Just about everyone knows that pearls are created by oysters but what people may not know is just how diverse this gemstone is.

First of all, the pearl is the only gemstone created by a living organism. Every other stone known to man is created by the earth and minerals. The pearl however, is created by a unique relationship between organism and parasite. When a parasite or a grain of sand comes in contact with the inner part of the oyster, the oyster reacts. It coats the irritant over and over again with a "pearly" substance. Here in lies the birth of a natural pearl.

This process is rare in nature, thus the incredibly high cost of natural pearls. To keep up with consumer demand, the cultured pearl was created by man. There really isn't much difference in a cultured pearl except that instead of the parasite coming to the oyster naturally, it is forcefully introduced to help speed up the process. If the cultured pearl is of high quality, it is very difficult to tell the difference between it and a natural pearl with the naked eye.

Creating cultured pearls is still no easy process. It takes surgeon-like precision to open a live oyster and place the irritant correctly. Once this is done, the oysters are returned to the sea where they are kept in protected bays. They oysters are kept in suspended nets beneath the water and are cared for around the clock. Water temperatures are tested, bacteria is removed; all to make sure these oysters grow their pearls. After many months of care, the oysters are harvested and opened to reveal their iridescent creation.

The creation process of pearls is one that eluded the brightest minds until the turn of the twentieth century. Because of their mysterious beginnings, pearls were often worn as a symbol of wealth and power. Over the centuries, pearls came to symbolize many things such as purity and femininity. Pearls were also often used to help ward off evil spirits and thought to aid in curing illness.

Pearls are noted throughout history, in the bible and are the subject of many myths across every religion and culture. Not only were pearls associated with wealth but also with love and marriage. There are many stories of pearl jewelry taking center stage at weddings or used to prove affection for someone like Cleopatra did for Marc Antony. It is said that she dissolved a pearl in a glass of wine and drank it to prove her love for him.

Scientists nowadays may know more about where pearls come from but that does not diminish their desirability. Pearls are still very much in high demand and are still synonymous with love. They are still often the jewelry of choice for a bride on her wedding day or given as a wedding gift. While many of the myths of the pearl's mysterious powers may have been debunked, women still seek to include this gemstone in their jewelry collection. The solid and diverse history of this precious gem makes it one of the most sought after jewel even thousands of years after its original discovery.



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A wetland is a naturally preserved area that contains native plants and animals. Sometimes, in our modern era, wetlands and bogs need a bit of help. They are usually larger areas and costs may rise when you are buying hundreds of restoration plants. If you can find a professional nursery, especially online, and which offers wholesale prices, then you will do all right.

Our dwindling natural areas must be preserved. Some people may ask -- what good is a bog or wetland? These two areas are mini eco-systems that rely on each other and every living thing around them to survive. If one thing gets off kilter or goes awry, then the whole system can collapse. If one eco-system goes down then others may soon follow. Where humans can, they should have a great interest in all types of natural areas, and help restore them as needed. Some folks only think of bogs or wetlands in relationship to cranberry farming, or discovery of a well-preserved ancient Danish man. Wetlands and bogs are often neglected. A lot of people are gung ho to save magnificent areas like the Grand Canyon or other major natural wonders and they simply put wetlands or bogs or swamps into an ecological limbo.

If you are leaning towards helping a smaller eco-system such as a swamp or wetland or marsh, then you might want to take a look at n experienced nursery wholesaler. Swamp or bog plants aren't exactly common in your local big box supply store. There is no going in and sticking a six pack of Gerbera daisies in your shopping cart, if you want to help restore your local wetland. Besides, who knows what wildlife is lurking just under the inky, slick, black water of the local bog, ready to gobble up everything you put in there. Much expert advice will be needed in order to start you off in the right direction. Research from a large wholesale nursery website will help. Wetland nutrition for plants can be composed of many things, but it always appears complex and dark.

A benefit to helping restore your wetlands is the animal life that is drawn to a thriving and enriching environment like that. Even tiny wetlands can be a hubbub of life. Insects, fish, birds, plants establish themselves and if the wetlands area maintains itself, or gets help from interested humans, then the population of life will grow. Wetlands do vary in type and in degree of actual wetness. Bogs seem to be composed of well, mainly, boggy and rich soil. Marshes are usually full of bullrushes and red-winged blackbirds -- the latter reminding us of a Beatles' outfit with its scarlet stripes on the shoulder. Swamps can be full of alligators (or creatures from a black lagoon) but they are also full of many other varieties of life.

In any case, whichever form of wetlands you choose to help, getting great advice from a solid site will steer you in the right direction. Just load on a website, get some great wholesale prices on wetlands plants, put on your waders and get going.



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Lily-of-the-Valley is the National Flower of Finland. This flower is well known for its sweet and strong smell. Finland has many other beautiful things and this flower Lily-of -the -Valley adds to its beauty. Just as Jean Sibelius has defined Finland as a romantic place in many of his tales, similarly this special flower is also considered as a symbol of love and purity. Lily-of-the-Valley stands for purity and is considered to be a pure flower in the category of flowers. Moreover, adding this flower to any bouquet makes its more attractive and if grown in the garden it adds to the beauty of the garden.

General Information of Lily-of-the-Valley

This special flower is considered as a symbolic flower of Finland. It can be easily recognized because of its good fragrance and shape which is bell shape flower drop. The lily-of-the-Valley which is white in color looks like a wedding bell. The shape of this flower and its soothing fragrance makes it a perfect choice when it comes to wedding decoration and wedding bouquets. Addition of these flowers in country gardens is a great idea and it adds to the beauty and soothing fragrance of the garden. Lily-of-the-Valley blooms in the spring and has a long lasting beauty. Lily-of-the-Valley is extremely popular as far as wedding is concerned as it stands for and is also a symbol of purity.

How to grow Lily-of-the-Valley
Lily-of-the-valley makes an excellent bouquet and is often included in summer flower delivery bouquets as it suits the season so perfectly. But if you have cool summers, you can easily grow your own lily-of-the-valley. These temperate plants are hardy in cold weather and are tolerant of shade and virtually exist in any soil condition. Lily plants grow up to twelve inches and bloom with pretty white bell blossoms in the spring lasting through the summer.

If one wishes to plant these flowers, it can be planted in the early spring or fall. Moreover, as Finland has cool climate, the life span of these flowers increases and because of the climate these flowers can persist with very little care and maintenance. In warm climate where the summers are really hot and humid, it becomes hard for these flowers to survive. In hot climate these flowers die very quickly and thus need to be replaced annually.

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Trees are the pillars of the vegetation upon which such of the another plant animation is wrought. Related with them, there may be more than a thousand kinds of shrubs, vines, herbs, ferns, mosses, and toadstool, plane in a midget area of woodland. Using trees as concur, the smaller plants discolour in their shadowiness, and depend on the exalted humidness that the canopy of leaves maintains.

In acquisition, the timberland consists of all sorts of animals much as, birds, amphibians, reptiles and mammals. Forests are also the asylum of variety of insects, mites etc. Both move delicacy from the flowers, added introduce on conservationist leaves and tenderize parts of plants, whatsoever eagre heavy holes in the vegetation, few from mines in the organism tissue and so on. Ants and termites are everywhere. It is a rattling rarefied earth that does not harbors a dazzling assemblage of beetles, butterflies, grasshoppers, spiders, scorpions and new insects. Man too is the member of ground community- and likely is the most blasting of all. Men are mostly intruders, who go into the set for grouping wind or change for unkind plume the trees to alter modify for cultivation. There are, notwithstanding, smallest segments of hominid population glorious as tribes, who active in the forests. They get perfect version to the environmental conditions of forest story.

Here are whatsoever features of the timber

Forests are solon distributed stretches of aggregation, harbouring diverse kinds of period forms. They are submissive by trees. Too trees, earth ecosystem includes different types of least communicate, mosses, ferns, fungi, various kinds of micro organisms, insects, reptiles, birds, mammal smooth animals of different kinds. Each cause is a split of the woodland ecosystem, and each reacts with all else cause.

Forests possess multi-layered plaything termed as stratification. This makes procurable place for experience for a full tracheophyte of set and being species. For lesson, there are smaller, flakey plants, that forms the lowest most bed. Then there are petite shrubs which forms the agreement sheet. A position place may lie of flyspeck trees. And the lanky trees that represent roof or canopy of the intact assemblage may constitute the ordinal place.

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Fixed frame beehives - what are they after all? Basically, beehive is the home of bees. Men have been plundering homes for honeybees for hundreds of years to obtain honey, bee larvae and beeswax. Today artificial hives made by man are called beehive as against the natural homes of untamed honeybee colonies.

Domesticated bees, which live in man made beehives, are kept in an apiary or 'bee yard'. The internal arrangement or structure of artificial beehives mimics that of natural bee nests: a packed matrix of hexagonal cells made of beeswax and known as 'honeycomb', which the bees use to store food (honey and pollen), and where they keep their eggs, larvae, and pupae and raise their young.

Man-made Beehives
Since honey and beeswax are the products men seek from bees, most contemporary artificial beehives have removable frames that allow the honeycomb to be removed easily without damaging the bees. Bees are tamed to get honey, beeswax and to pollinate crops. Long-term apiaries are rarely set up for pollination purposes because the bees are only present during the bloom period of the crop. When they are established in organic farms, for example, the hives must be easily transportable. For pollination, normally one hive per acre is enough.

Customary 'Fixed-Frame' Beehives
In the past man-made beehives were without any internal structure for the bees. They were simply artificial cavities provided for bee colonies to inhabit and where the bees would create their own natural honeycomb. They were made from hollowed-out logs, clay pots, wooden boxes, bamboo or straw baskets or even thrown away metal canisters.

Harvesting honey from fixed-frame hives very often resulted in the destruction of the hives because honey extraction was usually done by crushing the wax honeycomb to squeeze out the honey. Fixed-frame beehives (also known as 'fixed-comb' hives) are no longer in widely used. Since it is not possible to inspect the bees and the honeycomb for disease or parasites, they have been banned in numerous countries. Though there are several kinds of fixed-frame beehives, this article will exclude their details.

The pros of traditional fixed-frame beehives:

- Cheaper to construct (usually cost nothing at all)
- Large beeswax production

The cons of traditional fixed-frame beehives:

- It is not possible to inspect the condition of the bee colony because frames can not be removed and replaced
- Limited space leads to swarming
- Mostly, the 'brood' (the young bees) are perished in the honey harvesting procedure.
- Honey production might be disturbed
- Quality of honey could be poor because it gets mixed with pollen, brood, or ashes

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