springtime and the beezes are buzzin'

Thank God. We've heard some sad tales of the vicious 'Asiatic hornet' recently - slicing bee's heads off then devouring the body, killing off whole hives at a time. Apparently these creatures arrived in a packing case of crockery from China and now are causing major problems for the bee keepers of Southern France.
There are masses of bees in the garden of the Hot-House at the moment: huge black, by-plane type ones that bash into things, the humble bumble, orange bottomed bees and many types of common honey bee. The leave-cutter species are back, making nests in the holes in our terrace table: how do they know where to go? Perhaps it's the same very old bees each years  - ahh, there it is Mavis, just hold my stick will you while I try to land . . .woooaahh . . . oh damnation, missed - must get some new specs.
Here are some lovely plants with lovely bees, inc borage, marigolds, and the invasive but magnificent Judas tree.