In message , Sacha
wrote
On 2009-08-05 07:55:26 +0100, "Ophelia" said:

A report on radio4 this morning, asking people to keep a bee colony in their
gardens and even on a balcony (for example) for city dwellers. How
practical is this?

You can buy bee boxes for bumble bees and put them up as instructed.
It doesn't have to be a honey bee colony. Three species of bumble bees
are now extinct. ;-(

And then there is the red or blue mason bee. I have 200 tubes (800 to
1000 bees) of these waiting until next spring.
http://www.admac.myzen.co.uk/bee/
http://www.buckingham-nurseries.co.uk/acatalog/Mason_Bee_FAQ.html

--
Alan
news2009 {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk