A Good Year For Insects?

Thanks to a warm, dry spring, and despite a wet summer, we seem to have a bumper crop of insects this year. We have seen lots of bees, hover flies and butterflies in our garden, and my parents ended up with a triple-sized swarm of honey bees in a hive in their garden.

The last photo was taken by Rob (my husband) this morning. You can see every hair and claw on this enormous bumble bee in the original close-up.

Photo 1 copyright Julia K Walton 2008
Photos 2 and 3 copyright Rob Walton 2009