Posts Tagged: mustard
All Hail the Honey Bee
All hail the honey bee! It's an immigrant, like almost all of us, except for the Native Americans. European colonists brought the honey bee (Apis mellifera) to what is now the United States in 1622. Specifically, they arrived at the Jamestown...
A honey bee, her head and antenna covered with mustard pollen, heads for more pollen in a bed of mustard in Vacavilel, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Like a race horse, this bee seems to be bolting toward the finish line, a mustard blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Thar's gold in them thar hills--and gold pollen on her head, antennae, and thorax, not to mention the balls of pollen. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Honey Bees Just Lovin' the Mustard
The things we overlook are the things we should look for. Take mustard and honey bees. You've seen mustard thriving in fields, but have you ever considered planting some seeds from a nursery in your garden so honey bees will have something to eat in...
Packing a heavy load of pollen, a honey bee heads for a mustard blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Touchdown! A honey bee reaches a mustard blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A honey bee on top of her world--a mustard blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Heading home--a honey bee leaves a mustard patch to share her bounty with her colony. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Cabbage Aphids Do Not Social-Distance
"Eat your greens," they say. Okay, we don't need any encouragement, but apparently many other folks need a push, a poke or a prod to eat cole crops, including cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, mustard, kale and kohlrabi. Well, cabbage...
These cabbage aphids, Brevicoryne brassicae, are not practicing social distancing on this yellow mustard. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up of cabbage aphids, Brevicoryne brassicae, on yellow mustard. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Bee and the Butterfly
The bee and the butterfly. The honey bee and the Painted Lady. Apis mellifera and Vanessa cardui.They both wanted to sip that sweet nectar from a mustard blossom. The Painted Lady was there first. Sometimes it's "first come, first served" and...
A honey bee and a Painted Lady share a mustard blossom in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The honey bee edges closer to the Painted :ady. How sweet the nectar! (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
It's up, up and away. The honey bee buzzes over the butterfly. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Yes, I'll Have Some Mustard, Please!
Yes, I'll have some mustard, please. Yes, both the pollen and the nectar, thank you. We watched a honey bee buzz into our little mustard patch, her proboscis (tongue) extended, and pollen weighting her down. If she were at the airport, someone...
A pollen-laden honey bee heads for more pollen and nectar on mustard. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Pollen-packing honey bee is a sight to see amid the mustard blossoms. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Pollen or nectar? Both please, says the honey bee as she forages on mustard. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)