Hot news from the Wildlife Garden is that our bee tree is now humming with a new swarm of bees which was introduced about a month ago.

Caroline, the garden's manager, told me she's been waiting to see how the bees got on before telling everyone. Actually, they are doing really well and will be a star attraction at the garden's Yellow Book Day this Sunday, 4 July.

So 'what's a bee tree exactly?' I hear Pooh bear mumbling in my ear. It's a bee hive that's been cut into an 8-foot high ash tree trunk, pictured left. There are now about 15,000 bees in the hive which also houses eggs, young bees and honey. You can find out more about our bee tree at the event on Sunday. A word of advice, when you visit it, open the bark doors very carefully. And make sure to close them when you've had a look, as bees like the dark.

Another highlight of Sunday's event is the chance to meet our resident beekeeper, Dr Luke Dixon. Luke is an expert in urban beekeeping and helps look after the garden's 2 private beehives, which are also new this year and doing well. He will be holding 2 sessions at 12.30 and 14.00 and visitors can don the protective beekeeping clothing to have a look inside the hives.

There may be some Wildlife Garden honey to sample too, yummy!

Other activities on Sunday include pond-dipping and a guide to the garden's native plants. There will be stalls with refreshments and wild flower plants for sale.

By the way, did you know that Melissa is Greek for honeybee?

Check out the Museum's Wildlife Garden

If you're interested in beekeeping, have a look at the Beekeepers Association website for some handy hints

Find out more about honeybees on our honeybees webpages

Thanks to Matt for the bee tree image and to Luke Dixon and Kristian Buus for the recent Wildlife Garden beehive images. Click on the images to enlarge them.

Did you know, an incredible 80% of the world's known species are insects and the UK has about 23,500 different types? Or that stick insects make the perfect pets?

'I won't scratch the furniture, please can I be your family pet?' Our Insects as Pets event is on Saturday 26 June

It's definitely the small things in life that matter this week. We join other organisations and groups around the country to celebrate National Insect Week, from 21 to 27 June. We have special events going on all week and visitors will be able to meet some of our insect experts and their creepy-crawly companions.

Highlights of the week include Thursday night's insect talk, Six-Legged Wonders: The Return on 24 June in the Attenborough Studio, where you'll hear from 3 Museum entomologists who reveal insect truths. The talk also features an insect trivia quiz and the bar is open for drinks outside the studio. Watch out for the deadliest insect, so deadly in fact, it has to be kept in 2 separate bags... and some edible ants. You need to book for the Six-Legged Wonders ticketed event.

My favourite event planned for Saturday is the Insects as Pets talk, where you'll discover what lovable crawlers stick insects and giant cockroaches can be. So I'm assured. On Saturday, there's also pond-dipping in our Wildlife Garden.

Read the news story about National Insect Week

For events around the country, visit the official National Insect Week website

Watch out for some rare six-legged beauties, like the endangered Rose Chafer beetle, pictured right, in our online Species of the day insect series.

Discuss insects in our popular bug forum

Click on the images to enlarge them.

London’s Alexandra Palace Park played host to a Wild Day Out on Saturday 5 June. Natural History Museum and OPAL scientists went on a mission to record as much wildlife as they could in the park over 24 hours, including some strange batmen, like this one. OPAL is the Open Air Laboratories Project network.

Over 8,000 people joined in the Ally Pally BioBlitz, making the event a huge success. The final species count is to be confirmed but is expected to be in the region of 700.

The bioblitz event was partnered by the BBC who helped to rally lots of local people to assist with pond dips, worm charming, nature surveys and other activities in a bid to record all the plants and animals that live in the park. There were also arts and crafts activities for kids.

See some BBC pictures of Wild Day Out

For the uninitiated, a bioblitz is a kind of wildlife hunt against the clock, and anyone can join in. It can be a really big event in a large public space or a small one in your garden.

As well as the Ally Pally event, our Museum scientists and OPAL researchers staged another bioblitz at South Devon's Mothecombe Beach on 11 June. Here, local residents, schools and holiday-makers helped scientists record over 700 different species in just 28 hours.

Both bioblitz events are part of our national International Year of Biodiversity in the UK celebrations.

There are lots more bioblitzes happening around the country and you can find details on the National Bioblitz Programme 2010 website

Find out more about other UK biodiversity events on our Biodiversity is life website

OPAL, the Open Air Laboratories Project network, run lots of surveys and citizen science activities you can join in your local area and online. They have a base in our Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity.

Browse the OPAL website and explore nature

Read about a bioblitz in a journalist's back garden conducted by some of our scientists, on the Guardian website

Click on the images to enlarge them.