A honey bee heading toward a tropical milkweed.
A honey bee sting in action.
Bug Squad
Article

A Glorious Day

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A honey bee resting on tropical milkweed.
A honey bee lands on a tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Ever admired the beautiful colors of a tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica? 

Ever watched honey bees head for the red and yellow blossoms and go to work, dutifully gathering the rich nectar for their colony and trying to avoid the pollinia that could trap them?

This is National Pollinator Week, June 22-28, a time to celebrate such pollinators as bees, butterflies and birds. 

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A honey bee gathering nectar on tropical milkweed.
A honey bee gathering nectar on tropical milkweed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A. curassavica, native to the American tropics, is highly controversial. (Read about that elsewhere).

However, in the still of the morning, as the sun rises, signalling the beginning of a new day and promises to come, the bees break the stillness, buzzing from blossom to blossom.

It's the bee-ginning of a glorious day, compliments of Mother Nature.  

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A honey bee for a tropical milkweed blossom.
A honey bee heads for another tropical milkweed blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)