I could have shot a bunch of stills of these bees pollinating flowers, but the video together with the music conveys so much more.
I hope you especially enjoy the leaf cutter bees demonstrating their petal cutting abilities and the crab spider attacking the honeybee…and missing! Hooray!
I shot some more video today (August 7) to show that the bees are still going strong on the African Blue Basil in August. It’s good to have something for them after the main nectar flow of blackberries. Jeff Kerker says that the African Blue Basil will produce flowers all summer.
Adventures in Natural Beekeeping 
Another Academy Award winning film! The bees going in and out of the grandkids’ mouths was a bit of a Stephen King moment though….
Thanks for the kind words but you know how much fun it is to shoot bee videos. Just by luck I got that short clip of the crab spider in attack mode. Haha…it missed its target. Long live the bees!!😀
Another great video! I love the shots of the leaf cutter bees, I have not seen any in my garden this year. Have you any idea on what variety your Hypericum is? Amelia
Hi Amelia…My big old Hypericum is a Hidcote Hypericum. It’s the mother (and grandmother) of all my transplants. The Hypearls Hypericum is a hybrid that we bought last year. The bees were on it early in the morning. I shot that video at 7:30 am.
The old bush is over 20 years old. I’ve read that if you prune it severely, it’ll come back strong. I might try that next year because this year it only bloomed about a month before it started tapering off. (Well, maybe not severely, but slightly less) 🙂
That’s interesting, I had never heard of the Hypearls but I will keep my eye out for it. I think mine is a Hidcote. It is a lovely plant with lots of flowers but none of the bees are not interested in it. Amelia
Great video! Love the leaf cutter bees, and your echium! Wow!
Loved the videos of the bees, and loved both pieces of music!
Since getting a couple of leafcutter bees take up residence in one of the bug hotels, I’ve been itching with curiosity to see these creatures in action. Thank you for posting this lovely bee video 🙂 I must look out for Hidcote Hypericum in the garden centre too.
We’ve noticed that leaf cutters also like Thunbergia (Black-eyed Susan vines). In fact that is where we first started noticing them a couple of years ago. I bet if you were to get some of these, together with the dahlia called “Knockout” you’d see some leafcutters about a year from now. Good luck!