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Posts Tagged: pollen
Celebrating the Honey Bee on Labor Day
It's Labor Day but "The Girls" continue to work. "The Girls" are the honey bees, a great example of a matriarchal society. How many workers (girls) do you see foraging on your flowers? But inside the hive, "The Girls" are nurse maids, nannies,...
A honey bee, packing a load of orange pollen, buzzes over a red zinnia in a Vacaville pollinator garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Packing the Red Pollen
Ever seen a honey bee packing red pollen? Rock purslane (Calandrinia grandiflora) is one flower that yields red pollen. It's a drought-tolerant perennial, a succulent. But the most striking part is its color: a neon pink that could...
A honey bee packing red pollen as she visits another rock purslane blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A little adjustment of her pollen load and the honey bee reaches a rock purslane blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A 'Morning' Carpenter Bee and an Evening Primrose
As National Pollinator Month winds down, let's visit a "morning" carpenter bee and an evening primrose. The evening primrose, Oenothera biennis, native to the Americas, is unique in that it blooms as night (as its name implies) and dies back at...
A female Valley carpenter bee, Xylocopa sonorina, heads for evening primrose in a Vacaville pollinator garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Valley carpenter bee slides inside the evening primrose. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Valley carpenter bee rolling in the pollen of the evening primrose. Note the metallic wings. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
And it's off to forage in another blossom. Valley carpenter bee is loaded with pollen. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Sorry, Bee, I'm Closed for Bees-Ness
A honey bee heads for a patch of California golden poppies. She finds a blossom she likes. Bee: "Hey, Goldie Locks, I'm here to collect some nectar and pollen." Goldie Locks: "You're what?" Bee: "I want to collect some of your nectar and...
"Open up!" A honey bee attempts to enter a California golden poppy. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
"Maybe I'll try this entrance." The honey bee doesn't realize that some flowers close for the night. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
"Please, please open?" The honey bee makes no progress. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
"You're closed for bee-ness?" the honey bee mumbles. "Oh, well, guess I'll come back tomorrow."
Tower of Jewels: Christmas in May?
Christmas in May? When it's in full bloom, the aptly named "tower of jewels," Echium wildpretii, which can tower as high as 10 feet, looks very much like a Christmas tree. Think of the brilliant red blossoms as red bells. Native to the...
Honey bees can't get enough of the tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii. The plant yields both nectar and pollen. The pollen is blue. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A honey bee peers through the blossoms of the tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
