by gardens and bees
The first half of the month of May was cool and showery. Last week was very pleasant, a comfortable temperature for doing the garden work, the busiest time of year. But this week it’s suddenly very hot and I am struggling to get it all done. Any newly planted annuals or transplanted perennials are suffering and wilting easily. I’m wilting too as it’s too warm, too fast. This afternoon when I stopped for a break, I checked our thermometer on the west side of the house, though it was still in shade – it read 28C (83F).
I’ve noticed that we have a lot of bees on our garden, what we fondly call bumblebees with the fat furry tiger striped bodies. I tried catching a photo of them feeding in the chives flowers. Here’s one in flight, enlarged.
Curious about the name, I learned that they really are called bumblebees and even have their own website, bumblebee.org! After reading this spring about bee colonies dying by the thousands, I’m really happy to see them around here. Perhaps they are organic bees, which have not been decimated like the others.
May 31, 2007 in Being an Artist, Home by Marja-Leena
Yay for the bees in your garden! I had read awhile back that big agriculture was stressing the bees by carting them long distances and so on. But the recent reports on missing bees never mentioned this, so I wondered if there was a connection or not. Anyway, glad to see them busy in your garden.
It’s Italian honeybee colonies that are being decimated, not native bee species.
Burning Silo blog – a great source for information on, and photos of, all manner of invertebrates – recently had an interesting post on bumblebees:
http://magickcanoe.com/blog/2007/05/17/red-tailed-bumblebees/
Leslee, I’ve read all kinds of theories about it, and perhaps it’s all of these things. The poor stressed out bees would easily succumb to any parasite or disease. Glad these ones are still around – Dave says thay are native ones.
Dave – thanks for the info and the link! Very interesting. Bev’s photos put mine to shame.
I was planting my tomato plants today, and one honeybee was quick to come by next to me and eagerly burrowed into some of the tomato flowers, making me smile.
Our flowering crab is besieged by them. It is as though the trees were somehow animated, as the bees land, drink, take off. They ruffle the blossoms and the leaves, tickling the foliage. Occasionally, a breeze comes up, and magenta and fuchsia petals rain on the lawn. THey are such a gift, these bees.
Peter – a gift, yes. Your crab apple tree sounds lovely!
Nice bee link. I always have the urge to pet bumblebees and see how their “fur” feels.
Hi Amy, I know the feeling! Thanks for visiting.
Ah, buzzing bees, my garden is absolutely full of them and, as I found to my shock whilst pulling on a pair recenetly,one had even found its way into my wollen stockings
It managed to leave my legs with sting intact though I can’t say the same for my poor thigh!
“No bees were harmed in the dressing of this person”
Hi Mouse – Ouch! Not a nice surprise. I’ve had wasps get under my clothes while wearing them. When my children were small and had their friends over to play in the yard in the summer time, when the clover was in flower (our lawn is non-weed-free), one of them would accidentally step on a bee. I found a meat tenderizer with papya extract worked the best, by the way.