When the eggs hatch the legless grubs consume pollen and nectar, grow rapidly, and pupate after a few weeks. A few days later the first workers hatch from their pupae and begin helping their queen, expanding the nest and gathering food. By mid-summer nests of some species can contain several hundred workers. At this point, the queen starts laying both male and female eggs. When I first discovered needle felting somebody told me that it wasn't appropriate for young children to even witness adults doing this craft, due to the way that they imitate the gestures of adults around them. Looking at my son, who at the time was of an age where I was constantly having to discourage him from hitting, jabbing and poking things, I decided that this was good advice for my family! Now, at 7, I felt that he would be fine with it, and he managed the craft well, with no adverse effects! Either way, please be aware that needle felting needles are very sharp. If you are crafting with a younger child, or feel that they are not quite ready for needle felting, you can make the Felt Bee using the wet felting technique in our Wet Felted Acorns blog. The bee species around your property are very important and beneficial. They do not ordinarily exhibit aggressive behaviour towards humans, therefore leaving them to fulfil their seasonal cycle benefits the ecosystem around your home or premises. What to do while bees are active

The most common scenario in which you may become concerned is when they swarm. Typically these intimidating swarms will first set up a temporary camp somewhere nearby, such as a tree branch, fence post and even cars. In almost all cases the swarm will take off again within a day or two to occupy a most suitable permanent home elsewhere. LifecycleIt's very important to buy proper felting wool of the exact type listed as well as proper needles. Neither are expensive, but if you buy poor quality cheaper alternatives they may well be useless to felt with. Some traits of tree bees can be a cause of concern, but there is nothing to worry about. Commonly they establish a nest in bird boxes, or in parts of buildings, and may cause concern through apparent high level of nest flight activity due to ‘nest surveillance' by drones, and the sound of bee chatter/activity heard through the ceiling are all signs of activity. Solitary/Masonry bees

Keep an eye out for bee activity, like nest building, in the middle of spring – early detection of bees can make Only if the location of a nest is dangerous and removal not possible, should the next step be an option. Eradication

Engage children with digital learning

There are loads of good vendors that sell wool and needles, I have included links to the ones I buy from, but there are plenty more, just buy from a shop specifically for needle felting. A lot of kits sold by art shops that are supposed to be for needle felting really are not fit for purpose.

The females are fed extra food and become future queens. Both males and new queens leave the nest to mate, and the new queens burrow into the ground to wait until the following spring. The males, workers, and the old queen die off in the autumn, leaving the nest to decay. Tree bees Bees are very versatile; I add the small ones to other sculptures, I add a pin to make them into cute brooches, add a wire and they fly over your plants, add a magnet and they decorate your fridge. Rip off a small rectangular piece of white tissue paper and twist it in the middle. Place it on top of your cone, where the thread is coming up, and knot your thread over it. Alternatively, just leave them alone! They will naturally go towards the end of summer – try to enjoy your bees!Nothing brings joy to the Summer Nature Table quite like a Bumble Bee. Capture the open airiness of a summer's day, the pleasure of watching nature's finest workers as they bumble from flower to flower. Pull a small piece of yellow merino wool off, twist it to bring the strands together, and wrap it around your body shape. Stab the wool to make it hold that oval shape. Stabbing with the needle more deeply will make more of a dent in the wool, while stabbing lightly will just affect the surface. The more you stab, the firmer and smaller your bee will be. To tidy any straggling loose threads of wool and smooth up the surface stab at an angle along the body so the needle just pierces along the surface. This will smooth the surface without shrinking the overall shape as much.