Sweet Thunder provides the delightful musical background for this video of hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies at work in my garden on the Oregon Coast.
Posts Tagged ‘bee-loving flowers’
The Birds and the Bees and the Butterflies
Posted in Bee to Flower relationship, Bee-loving flowers, Butterflies, Hummingbirds, Music video, Natural Beekeeping, Videos, tagged bee pollinating poppy, bee-loving flowers, bees on borage, bees on Oregon Coast, bees on parsley, Crocosmia, daisy, Hummingbirds, Kiera O'Hara, Lotus, macro nature video, macro photography, Mary Steele, Mourning Cloak butterfly, organic gardening, Painted Lady butterfly, pollinators, Skipper butterfly on wallflower, Swallowtail butterfly, Sweet Thunder, Wendy McGinnis, Wild pollinators on November 12, 2013| 3 Comments »
Blue Pollen in Early Spring? Plant Now!
Posted in Bee to Flower relationship, Bee-loving flowers, Gardening, Natural Beekeeping, tagged bee-loving flowers, beekeeping, Gardening, natural beekeeping, pollinators, Wild pollinators on November 8, 2013| 2 Comments »
Siberian Squill, that is.
“An excellent source of blue pollen,” says BBHB, who has graciously given me permission to use his photo of Siberian Squill.
Planting instructions according to Wisconsin Master Gardening Program: Plant the small bulbs in the fall, placing them 2 to 3 inches deep and 2 to 4 inches apart. Because of the ephemeral nature of the foliage, this small bulb can easily be grown in sunny lawns. To plant Siberian squill in turf, scatter the bulbs randomly in the area you want them. Then punch or auger a hole in the sod, using a dibble or other implement (some people suggest a cordless drill with a large bit), wherever a bulb has fallen. Place the bulb (pointed side up) at the bottom of the hole and fill in with additional soil. Wait until the bulb’s foliage has started to die down in spring before resuming mowing the lawn.
That sounds easy enough. I’m planting them tomorrow.
One of the first spring-flowering bulbs, easy to grow, cold hardy, blue pollen for the bees..what’s not to like? It’s considered invasive.
Discussion about Siberian Squill on beesource.com Why is it that so many of the plants that bees like are considered invasive??? I’m planting anyway because it’s an early food source, good for the bees, can grow in my lawn, is deer resistant, and will go dormant by mid May.
November 9, 2013…The cordless drill worked well. I planted 50 bulbs of Siberian Squill hoping it would be enough to get videos of bees carrying blue pollen in March. Snowdrops will be going in as soon as I can find a source.
Ivy League Pollinators
Posted in Bee to Flower relationship, Bee-loving flowers, Fly pollination, Log hives, Music video, Natural Beekeeping, Videos, tagged bee-loving flowers, bees on Oregon Coast, butterfly on ivy, Flies that look like bees, fly pollinating ivy, fly pollination, Ivy pollinators, Log hive wood carving, macro nature video, wasp on ivy, Wasp pollinator, Wild pollinators on November 1, 2013| 15 Comments »
Mid October…the bees are bringing in baskets loaded with orange pollen.
When I saw how much pollen was coming into Bee Beard log hive, I wanted to find out where it was coming from. I knew it had to be ivy because that’s the only thing in bloom this late. I set out to prove my theory.
I went to my known ivy patches, which just happened to be in the sun…perfect.
Mid October…An American Painted Lady (I think)
I didn’t see any bees at this first place, but this butterfly posed for me long enough to get a short video. She is sipping nectar through her long proboscis which acts like a flexible straw.
This looks like a bee, but the eyes are different. It’s a fly who is grooming herself in the sun. The video shows her rubbing her front legs and using them to scrape the pollen off the top of her body.
I see Barbara out walking her dogs. She knows I’m obsessive about bees and mentions an ivy covered wall that was buzzing with bees. I head over.
This ivy wall was buzzing with bees…I’m going to get lots of opportunities to shoot bee videos.
I knew something was weird with this when her proboscis touched the top anther and rubbed it. It’s another fly that resembles a bee.
This looks like a white-trimmed black wasp, but it’s the wrong habitat for it. Can anyone ID it for sure? It’s another ‘buzzing insect’ working the ivy.
Celeste A. S. Mazzacano, Ph. D.
Staff Scientist / Aquatic Conservation Director, Xerces Society Project Coordinator, Migratory Dragonfly Partnership
Celeste replied to my request to for an identification of this wasp…
Pat, I am pretty sure that what you have are some lovely shots of the White-faced Hornet (Vespula maculata, also known as Dolichovespula maculata, not sure which name is the most current). The markings are quite distinctive, especially around the eyes and thorax, and this is the only West Coast wasp species that is white and black–all the others are yellow and black. These dudes are apparently aggressive little stingers, and the adults are predatory on small invertebrates, so I don’t think they’d be more than incidental pollinators. They make above-ground nests out of chewed wood pulp, but a colony only lasts for one year–they die off over the winter, except for females that mate at the end of summer and start new colonies the following spring. These are nice photos! Thanks, Celeste.
Finally I see an actual honeybee who is sipping nectar, but no pollen is evident.
Another look, but no pollen is visible.
I spot a bee on a dandelion, pollen sprinkled on her abdomen. A close look revealed none in her pollen baskets.
I can see I was mistaken about the pollen going into my hives. It can’t be ivy just yet…not sure what it is, but I’ll keep looking.
Removing English Ivy from trees
Patricia talks about the importance of ivy as a nectar source for insects late in the year.
Grooming, on a Summer Afternoon
Posted in Bee to Flower relationship, Bee-loving flowers, Bumblebees, Music video, Natural Beekeeping, Videos, tagged bee-loving flowers, Bees grooming, bees on Oregon Coast, bumblebees, honey bees, macro nature video, natural beekeeping, nature photography, pollinators, Wild pollinators on October 30, 2013| 3 Comments »
I asked Kiera O’hara, the composer and pianist of the background music, “Song for Earth Day.”
“I’ve got the melody replaying itself over and over again in my head. Since you wrote it can you describe the background of it? I’m always curious how a person comes up with music, probably because I’m so NOT musical.
There’s that little voice towards the end (at 3:10) that says to me, “But why can’t I?” or “but what about this?” It’s definitely a question. That’s how it sounds to me. :-)”
Her reply…
You’ve got it, exactly! That ending was meant to sound tentative–the vulnerability of the earth asking for help, and the question lingering for us humans, will we help?
Cemetery Bush
Posted in Bee to Flower relationship, Bee-loving flowers, Music video, Natural Beekeeping, Uncategorized, Videos, tagged Averill Pioneer Cemetery, Bandon Lighthouse, bee-loving flowers, bees pollinating cotoneaster, Cotoneaster, honey bees, macro nature video, nature photography, Wild pollinators on October 29, 2013| 1 Comment »
Cemetery bush, July 1, 2013
In July I noticed honeybees were pollinating these bushes in the cemetery. I took photos so I could show them to knowledgeable people to ID them. I asked quite a few people who had no idea what those bushes were. Jim, the volunteer at the cemetery, said at first he thought they were planted, but later he realized the birds must have dropped seeds where the mower couldn’t reach and they just grew without being cut.
July 1, 2013 Bees love this bush. Circle shows the color of pollen.
October 26, 2013…we suddenly realize this is a cotoneaster bush. It’s just so obvious with the red berries. Thanks to the bees the birds will benefit.
I shot some video of the blossoms with the bees getting nectar. If I see the birds eating berries, I’ll get a video on them.
Sex in the Backyard with a Pretty Yellow Blossom
Posted in Bee to Flower relationship, Bee-loving flowers, Birds Foot Trefoil pollination video, Music video, Natural Beekeeping, Videos, tagged bee pollinating yellow vetch, bee sipping nectar, bee-loving flowers, beekeeping, honey bees, macro nature video, music video, Wild pollinators, yellow vetch on July 16, 2013| 8 Comments »
Who ever said plant biology was boring? Certainly not me after shooting this video.
When I shot this video I didn’t realize I was witnessing an intimate relationship between flower and bee. The pistil is still showing here, but in the video, the petals clamp shut soon after the bee moves on.
The flower provides the nectar to attract the bee. The bee lands on the flower, pulling the petals apart to reveal the pistil. The flower makes pollen available which the bee carries away.
Since this is my 100th blog, I wanted to do something special. I wanted to have some music in the background. Sweet Thunder, a quartet in Portland, graciously gave me permission to use one of their tunes called, “Blues in the Barn.” Kiera O’Hara, who composed the music, said “she wrote it when she lived on a tree farm in Michigan and her piano room was a refurbished nook in an old barn.” “We are a collaborative bunch, so the sound of my tunes on the disk is very much the result of that collaboration.”
Thank you Sweet Thunder for the sweet music.
The video shows the bee and flower cooperation. I never took biology in school, so I don’t know if they show this racy stuff, but this is an unrated Bee movie in the truest sense.
I was unsure what this blossom was. I thought it might be a yellow vetch, so I asked Morris Ostrofsky. Morris, a forty year beekeeper and scientist affiliated with the Oregon State Master Beekeeping Program positively identified this blossom as a Bird’s Foot Trefoil.
“The plant is indeed Birds Foot Trefoil. This plant ranks high on the bees’ favorite forage list. If you go back in some of the older bee publications, it was actually encouraged as bee forage. However, it’s no longer encouraged because it has been found to be invasive. However, the bees’ still love it.”
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.
Hyper-bees on Hypericum
Posted in Bee-loving flowers, Natural Beekeeping, Videos, tagged Bee on bee behaviour, Bee-havior, bee-loving flowers, Creeping St. John's Wort, Hidcote Hypericum, honey bees, Hypericum, Hypericum Calycinum, macro nature video, macro photography, natural beekeeping, pollinators, St. John's Wort on July 5, 2013| 4 Comments »
June 8, 2013 I feel like it ought to be stitched on my belt…”Seven bees on one blossom.”
This Hidcote hypericum, commonly called St. John’s Wort or Aaron’s Beard was given to us by my mother-in-law about 20 years ago. We never knew how much bees like it until recently, when we started keeping bees…but like it they do. I often stop to watch them in a frenzy hurriedly climbing over and through the anthers. Hidcote hypericum grows in a bush unlike the Hypericum Calycinum, Creeping St. John’s Wort, that grows along the ground.
Hypericum Calycinum on left…Hidcote Hypericum on right. I think the one on the left is much prettier, but I’ve never seen any honeybees on it. The Hidcote Hypericum grows in a big bush about 8+ feet wide by 8+ feet tall. (3 m x 3 m)
These two bees got into a disagreement over who gets to work the flower. I didn’t see it until I played the video on the laptop. The bee on the left was working the blossom first. I slowed down the action on the video so you could see it better.
I shot this short video to capture the action…
Another example of Bee-Havior and “Blossom Rights”
Bee sideswipes an innocent insect on side of crocus.
Bee Flowers in May
Posted in Bee-loving flowers, Bumblebees, Natural Beekeeping, Videos, tagged bee-loving flowers, beekeeping, Bees on echium, bees on kale, bees on Oregon Coast, bees on Salvia, bumblebees, fly pollination, honey bees, macro photography, natural beekeeping, nature photography, pollinators, Wild pollinators on June 17, 2013| 1 Comment »
This is actually a fly…I didn’t know that while I was filming it, but I kept it in the movie so you could see the tongue. I’m wondering if it inspired ‘Alien.’
This is the tail end of the kale flowers. In April, the bees were so busy on the kale you could hear the happy humming. In June when I’m finally posting this, the kale has been pulled and hung so the seed pods can dry out.
We’ve worked up a flower garden near the bee hives. This honeybee is working an Echium which was given to us by Shigeo who was very helpful with his “Big Dog” chainsaw carving out my Bee-atrice log hive.
Hal and Patti’s Log Hives and Garden
Posted in Bee-loving flowers, Gardening, Hives, Log hives, Natural Beekeeping, Swarms, Videos, tagged bee-loving flowers, beekeeping, bees on sedum, Gardening, Gunnera, honey bees, Log hives, multi-level garden, natural beekeeping, Pitcher pump water fountain, Verticle log hive on May 15, 2013| Leave a Comment »
I just love standing on this bridge and seeing all the work Hal and Patti have done. It’s so beautiful.
Hal called me up last week to say he took some video of a bee swarm flying INTO his unoccupied bee log. I’m thinking “Well, that’s a first. Whenever I see a swarm, they are flying OUT of something…like a hive.” I had to see this. While I was there I shot some photos of all the work they have done. I draw inspiration every time I visit. It was here that I learned about sedum and what a wonderful bee loving flower that is. There is so much color here, so many flowers. It surely takes hard work and dedication to keep everything looking so good.
When I first saw all the bees sipping nectar on these sedum, I knew I wanted a bunch. It’s clear it’s nectar they are after…I didn’t see a speck of pollen in their pollen baskets. This photo was shot at Patti’s garden in September 2012
It didn’t take long for the bees to set up home. They swarmed INTO this log, April 18.
Patti’s gunnera is growing under the bridge
Hal and Patti on bridge, May 10, 2013
This video shows the swarm of bees moving INTO the vacated log hive. Hal explains what is going on as he shoots the video on his iPhone.
All this is natural comb, built in less than two months from when the bees swarmed INTO the log hive.
Adventures in Natural Beekeeping 