Pollinators of the UK

From all the articles I've read and correspondence I've had over the years with European Beekeepers, I figured there would be hives everywhere.  However, I never saw a hive nor a honey bee in Belgium.  I didn't see much in England.  There are flowers everywhere.  The English are very proud of their gardening skills.  We were there in May when I can see a bee nearly anywhere I look in Oregon.

We were probably into our seventh day be fore I saw my first honey bee outside of a restaurant  accross from Bodnant Garden.  They were actually plentiful, but after that more honey bee dearth through Northern England.  We saw no bees in Bath, Wells, Glastonbury, Kensit, Stow, the Lake District, Conwy, or London... I didn't even see a bee in the Kensington Palace Garden.  I saw a lot of begging American gray squirrels, but not one honey bee.

I had to wait until I got to York for my next encounter and I didn't actually see any bees there, but I did see two back-yard hives at a home from the York Wall near York Minster. 

The photo above is one that I use in the class that I teach that illustrates that beekeeping can be a good project for city dwellers. That is the Tower Bridge in London in the background.

The next time I go over, I am going to seek out the bee community.