Honey Bees foraging on the flowers of Cotoneaster horizontalis
For several years, I've been trying to get a good recording of bees foraging on the Cotoneaster which grows against my barn wall, but have always been thwarted by the ever-present noise pollution. This year, with the lack of aircraft and reduction in local traffic, everything came together at last. I find this soundscape quite hypnotic, with the shifting harmonies of the bees overlaid with seasonal birdsong. What you'll hear is mainly Honey Bees, with one or two Bumble Bees and other flying insects passing by. Birdsong includes Great Tit, with its alternating two-tone song, a Garden Warbler's free-form jumbled melody, the chattering of Swallows at around 4 minutes, Wren, Chaffinch and, at the very end, the clear and considered song of a Blackbird close by.
The flowers of Cotoneaster horizontalis are relatively insignificant to us humans, but their abundant nectar attracts bees (and other insects) from far and wide. Here, I placed a stereo microphone close-up to the shrub, so the recording was made from the kind of close perspective shown above. I'd forgotten to photograph the setup at the time, so this photo dates from June 2015.
Recorded: 2020-05-27, approx 12 noon.
Location: mid-Wales
Download full length recording:
30 min, 49MB, .ogg format
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