More Butterflies than last year?

[HareBrain]

Saw a clouded yellow yesterday -- first time in years.

 

[Foxbat]

News on the Bee front: My brother went to clean out his hives whilst he waited for a chance to repopulate them and discovered a swarm had moved into one of them. He gave me some details on why a prolonged stay looked hopeful from the insect squatters (most of which I didn't understand) but, more importantly, perhaps it's a sign that the bee population is starting to recover in this area.

 

[River Boy]

Someone suggested to me it was just because it was a warmer and drier year, but not sure if there's any genuine research into that.

If I was really optimistic I'd like to say it's because farmers are doing better on the issue of pesticide use and so there are less caterpillars being lost, but farmers have never made me feel optimistic about native wildlife before.