We were deafened, by the sound of the grass and the piss en lit growing today, 27°c’ in the shade’ here, Frelon around too, not so welcome, we get the Asiatic Jobs, Madam is Phobic, I am not keen, flatten them on sight!
1 Like
We had some ginormous frelon last year…on fallen cherries and apples…they’re huge but not particularly aggressive…I think the black and white bee is an ashy mining bee…(?) not aggressive either to people or pets…my pet hate though is wasps purely because they can sting multiple times…a bee can only sting once and it’s fatal for them…(reminding me of Michael mckintyre on bees and wasps…lol…) x 
No, the frelon are not aggressive, but carry a significant punch, even if accidental (stood on), the Asian jobbie, is a different beast 
My girl Collie is a horror for catching bumble bees wasps hornets bees midflight and then spitting them out dead…she’s very rarely been stung but I always have homeopathic apis meillifica on standby just in case…she’s also a nightmare for catching birds out the air…My boy hates flies…he seems to distinguish between bumble bees etc and leaves them alone but flies really irritate him…he has distinct vocal sounds that let me know whether it’s a bee or a fly that I need to deal with… x
Very funny Helen 
I’m a ‘swatter’, or give it a blast of Super U ‘Cobra’ spray, it’s dead cheap, useless on flies, (they love it, gives them a buzz), but incredible on wasps and hornets, immediate ‘knock down’, DEID !!!
1 Like
Looks good, not a lotta breeze though 
Is that the Fort North’ish of Oleron Dave?
There was a sea breeze of about F3 all afternoon, dying away to nothing if you went about a mile offshore. The object is the copy of the Cape Horn lighthouse which is just off the Port de Minimes.
1 Like
First time I was in La Rochelle, Port de Minimes, didn’t exist Dave, Didn’t know that, I thought it was a Fort 
Lol…I’m probably in the swatter catagory too…I’ve got “zen sect”…had it for almost two years and use it very sparingly…I seem to have an obsession with identifying my target first and not using anything that might kill a bee nor anything that my Collies might have an adverse reaction to…I have many scented candles on my hit list too…and just about all chemical products…I usually resort to the non insectidal fly strips which the first year I moved here killed thousands of flies and no bees…Today I noticed a bee entering an open ended pole above my conservatory door…I guess she’s found it a good place to raise her brood…x
That’s not the structure I was thinking of Dave, Long time since I last sailed there, the I’ de Ré bridge had just been built, I was on my way back to Scotland from the Med via the Midi, maybe memory playing tricks 
The thing I meant, was like one of the Solent Forts.
Fort Boyard off La Rochelle maybe ?
1 Like
I had a holiday with my French neighbour on Oleron last September. Totally different from burgundy where it looks as though the weather is about to change.
1 Like
Thats the one Simon, thanks, passed it a few times 
Just back from a V Gren’, found a nice French Barograph, will help watch the weather trends
Sadly, back to cloudy and cool here in S E 56, but happily, dry at the mo’
It was great! Wet again for the next few days by the looks of it.
1 Like
Temp’ is down 11° here too, amazing how it can ‘bob’ up an’ down so dramaticly. Outlook is not great here either James 
1 Like
Cut our grass and the ‘Outlaws’ in anticipation of a few wet days ahead 