The bees have been busy and so have we. Gerard Van Duinen of La Tabú (The Hague) graciously let us use his Tango music.
Archive for the ‘Crab spider’ Category
Bees, Flowers, and Tango
Posted in Bee Video, Bee-loving flowers, Bumblebees, Butterflies, Crab spider, Macro bee video, Music video, Warre Hive, Wasps, tagged African Blue Basil, Bee Speckled dahlia, Bees in squash blossom, Bees on hypericum, Bees on Walker's Low, Bombus vosnesenskii, California Poppy pollination, crab spider, Gazania, Gerard Van Duinen, German Wasp, Greenworks garden cultivator, Honeycomb, La Tabú, Methley Plums, Mignon dahlia, Nepeta, Phacelia, Pole beans, Red Poppy bee, Salvia Nemarosa, Swallowtail butterfly, Verbascum, Vespula Germanica, Warré Bee hive, Winter lettuce on August 27, 2016| 7 Comments »
Bee-Loving Flowers in Mid Summer
Posted in Bee to Flower relationship, Bee Video, Bee-loving flowers, Bumblebees, Crab spider, Macro bee video, tagged African Blue Basil, Backyard gardening, Bee Beard Log Hive, bee-loving flowers, Bees and St. John's Wort, bees on Oregon Coast, bombus Vosnesenkii, Bombus vosnesenskii, Carved log hive, crab spider, dahlia, echium, echium pininana, Grand Kids Log Hive, Hypearls St. John's Wort, iPhone 6 video, Leaf Cutter bees, Lobelia, Nepeta, Phacelia, Tower of Jewels, Walker's Low on July 30, 2015| 9 Comments »
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.
Close Call on Gallardia
Posted in Bee to Flower relationship, Bee Video, Bee-loving flowers, Crab spider, tagged bee on Gallardia, bee-loving flowers, natural beekeeping on November 5, 2014| 12 Comments »
If you want to grow some very colorful flowers that will bloom in September and October, try the Arizona Sun Gallardia.
Watch the crafty crab spider emerge from below the curled petals bottom right. I’m wondering if the honeybee saw the spider. It almost looked like it was ‘daring’ the spider to come after it. I’ve seen enough honeybees that were trapped in the crab spider’s grip to know it’s foolish to tempt fate, but this one got away.
Blackberries, Bees, Clover and Thyme
Posted in Bee-loving flowers, Crab spider, Natural Beekeeping, Videos, tagged bee-loving flowers, beekeeping, Blackberries, Clover pollination, common privet, Cosmos, English Thyme, Erysimum, Escalonia, honey bees, macro nature video, macro photography, meadowfoam, natural beekeeping, nature photography, photography, pollinators, wallflower, Wild pollinators on July 8, 2013| 3 Comments »
Blackberries are considered to be Oregon’s largest nectar flow, starting mid to late June.
If you have clover in your yard, you have a ready excuse NOT to mow the lawn…“I’m just helping out the bees!”
We see hedges of Escallonia on our morning walks. If I bring a camera, it’s easy to get pictures.
It looked like this bee was ‘biting’ the pollen grains off the anthers. I slowed down the video to see better, but it’s soft on focus. Then the deer found it, now it’s gone.
Wallflower, (Erysimum) blooms all summer…and the Bumblebee, honeybees, and butterflies can be seen sipping nectar.
It took us a while to identify this moth. It’s a Ctenucha multifaria, appearing on our Echium tree, June 28, 2013. I couldn’t find any videos on this, so mine might have to be the first one.
Plant Flowers for the Bees
Posted in Bee-loving flowers, Bumblebees, Butterflies, Crab spider, Gardening, Natural Beekeeping, tagged bee-loving flowers, bumblebees, crab spider, Gardening, honey bees, natural beekeeping, organic gardening, Wild pollinators on June 4, 2012| 2 Comments »
What flowers to plant/buy for our area of Zone 5? These flowers have done well for us…
Bees love California Lilac which provides early nourishment for the bees
Bumble bee on the Comfrey, which can be considered invasive, but provides food for the bees.
Echium plant grew from 2 ft (.6 m) high last year to about 10 ft (3m) high this year
Bumble bees go for the Echium in a big way
SIX BEES ON A SINGLE BLOSSOM
Bees go crazy on these blossoms (which I was under the impression were Island Bush Poppies) as can be seen in this fuzzy photo of six bees on a Hypericum. It’s covered with bees mid June to late July.
Bee diving into Penstemon blossom. These start blooming June.
Dahlias, blackberries (main Oregon crop for bees), sunflowers, wall flowers, rosemary are also good bets for bees, as well as cotoneaster which grows wild and provides food late in the season.
These are plants we’ve had in our garden. I’m sure there are many more. Please fill free to add to the list in the comments.
Many of these flowers serve as butterfly attractors also. See Butterflies.
Adventures in Natural Beekeeping 