Wow! November was packed so full that I didn’t write at all. My oldest had time for a trip to the Continent. I wanted her to spend her time taking in the culture of her surroundings instead of shopping for gifts, but she evidently couldn’t help herself and brought this back for me: a gorgeous olive wood…
Early spring hive inspections are always a pleasant way to spend time outdoors. In addition to honey bees, I typically see many ants and spiders, and the other day, I also saw a comma. I think this one overwintered nearby — its wings were very ragged. This was an early sighting for me, but I read that there was…
Many times I will inspect a beehive and see cells packed with orange and yellow pollen. Today I had the pleasure of witnessing a wider color range that included yellow, blue, white, and pink. Here is a look at a forager bee with pale yellow pollen on its legs (pollen basket): And here is a…
I have to talk a little about this new hive site. I was fortunate enough to gain a spot with a community garden where immigrant families can grow their native foods. I just love that idea. Back in the depths of winter, the garden program manager and I had preliminarily chosen a place that was “near” a plot…
I was invited to join a photo challenge and thought I would share my weekly entries here to give some context to other photographers or bee enthusiasts, or to the small subsection of the world that is made of bee-loving photographers. The idea behind P52 is that all members of the challenge will contribute one…