Ever noticed that when yellow-faced bumble bees, Bombus vosnesenskii, forage in lupine that their pollen is red?

Last July when we were camping at Bodega Bay, we delighted in watching the bumble bees foraging in the lupine. Bumble bees store their pollen in pollen baskets, or corbicula, on their hind legs. A full pollen basket can contain more than a million pollen grains and weigh up to 0.01 grams.  

Houston, we have lift-off! 

And then, looking at the images today, they look like red Christmas ornaments.

Fact is, lupine flowers produce red-orange pollen that attracts pollinators like bees, butterflies, and hover flies. Other flowers that produce red pollen include the rock purslane (Calandrinia grandiflora); henbit (Lamium amplexicaule) and horse chestnut (Aesulus hippocastanum).

Rudolph, they say, had a red nose. Pollinators pack red. There's a song in there somewhere.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Had a very shiny nose
And if you ever saw it
You would even say it glows

Bombus, the yellow-faced bumble bee
Had a very shiny load
And if you ever saw it,
You would even say it glowed

Or something like that... 

Spring begins March 20. As of today, that's 98 days away.