Bee Yourself

Song - No Rain by Blind Melon

As to the above song - "Shine on little bee girl......."

I have this Camellia shrub outside my office window and right now it is in full bloom.  The bees just discovered it today!

Pollen on Camellia's was something I never have thought of (probably because they don't have a scent) but the bees know.

Stopping my work for awhile, I put my camera on a tripod and went outside to watch their activity.  I saw them remove the pollen and place it on their back legs.  When they had a sufficient amount, they would fly away and come back clean & ready to keep working.  How do they know when they have gathered enough pollen or too much to fly? What do they use the pollen for?

Actually they store the pollen to use when it's too cold or there are no flowers pollinating.  Stored pollen is mixed with mouth secretions to make brood food/bee bread which is essential for new little bees!

Pollen is not readily available when the bees start to rear their brood early in the year.  They rely on stored pollen.  Nurse bees consume bee bread as a stimulus to produce royal jelly for very young bees.

The bee in the above photo was taking a little break to "re-distribute" his heavy load. Now I know why they call busy people "worker bees"!

"What a kid I got, 

I told him about the birds and the bee 

and he told me about the butcher and my wife." 

 --Rodney Dangerfield

Monday Morning Walk

Song - Busy Bee by Arthur Askey

Have you ever heard a flower hum?

Well, I have!

There must be a thousand big, black, bumble bees in this Wisteria tree.  I can hear it hum from 20 feet away!



 Let's continue our walk from yesterday. 

 Azalea

Sunday I showed you the beginning of my vegetable garden.  Today we are going to wander through the shade garden.

 Dogwood

A babbling creek below the shade garden

 Ferns are unfurling

Hosta's filled with water are erupting

And Primroses are happily growing amongst the wild strawberries.

Did I every tell you that my Dad's mom was named Violet after the flower?  

And her twin sister was Daisy?  

And their other sisters were flowers as well - Lily and Rose?

"Arranging a bowl of flowers in the morning can give a sense of quiet in a crowded day - like writing a poem or saying a prayer." - Anne Morrow Lindbergh