Spring won't arrive until March 19, but don't tell that to the honey bees foraging on the flowering quince.

Flowering quince, an early spring bloomer, is blooming here now. Butterfly guru Art Shapiro, UC Davis distinguished professor emeritus of evolution and ecology, saw his first flowering quince abloom in Davis on Jan. 14. We saw a nice specimen coloring the landscape pink near downtown Vacaville a few days ago. Usually the flowering quince bursts into bloom in early February, right before Valentine's Day.

A member of the rose family Rosaceae and the genus Chaenomeles, the flowering quince is native to Southeast Asia. Here in California, it seems to be sort of a "heritage shrub," part of many a pioneer landscape.

It serves as food for the larvae of some moths, including the brown-tail (family Erebidae) and the leafminer moth (family Gracillariidae).

But we know it as food for honey bees as they emerge from their winter colonies--on the first sunny days--to forage for pollen and nectar.

Almond pollination season usually begins around Feb. 14, but the flowering quince get an earlier start.  

Bees in the pink!