Posted in Bee to Flower relationship, Bee Video, Bee-loving flowers, Music video, Natural Beekeeping, tagged bee-loving flowers, Bees pollinating poppies, honey bees, macro nature video, macro photography, pink poppies and bees, Pink Princess Poppy, Red poppies and bees, Wild pollinators on June 2, 2014| 5 Comments »
…and gets it from the honeybees!
June 2, 2014…This pink poppy (Pink Princess) just opened up this morning. The honeybees seem to favor it over the red poppies..
By contrast, there is only one bee at a time on the red poppies. Maybe they think it’s more dignified. 🙂
Posted in Bee to Flower relationship, Bee-loving flowers, Log hives, Music video, Natural Beekeeping, Videos, Warre Hive, tagged bees on Oregon Coast, bombus melanopygus, bumblebees on heather, honey bees, Log hive wood carving, Log hives, macro nature video, macro photography, natural beekeeping, natural comb, nature photography, pollen shower, Verticle log hive, Warre hive, Wild pollinators, wood carving on January 17, 2014| 19 Comments »
Here you can see the pollen release. When the bee gets the nectar, the pollen shoots out.
As she grooms herself with her front legs, you can see what looks to be a static electricity charge on her bee fuzz…it shows up better on the video.
This short video shows a bumblebee (bombus Melanopygus) sipping nectar from heather in mid January. As she sips, pollen can be seen shooting out. Later she grooms herself. I noticed what looked to be a static electricity charge when her front legs combed her fuzzy head.
I didn’t want to interrupt the music so I added some video of my Bee-atrice log hive which didn’t make it through the sub freezing weather.  I looked at a comb which had some capped honey as well as uncapped cells. I replaced the comb in the hopes that this hive will attract a swarm in spring.
It should be raining sideways this month. It’s not. After our cold snap, we’ve been enjoying daytime temperatures in the 50’s and 60’s F. (10’s and 20’s C) When I filmed this it was 71 F. (22 C). Our honeybees love it. They are bringing back yellow and orange pollen. I can’t figure where they’re getting it because the pussy willows aren’t blooming yet, but traffic is heavy as can bee seen on the video.
This is my second winter with bees. They don’t fly when it’s raining of course, but we do get breaks in the rain, the sun pops out and the bees are flying. I feel bad for the beekeepers that must tuck their charges to bed in the autumn and trust they will emerge when the weather warms up sometimes months later. I’m talking about people like Emily Heath among others in cold far away places. 🙂 I guess you could say I’m spoiled to be able to see them active during the winter.  I don’t know what will happen in spring. It’s possible we’ll get our rain then…given the choice, I’d rather get it now. In any case the bees are making use of the warm weather.
How are your bees?
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 »
Sweet Thunder provides the delightful musical background for this video of hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies at work in my garden on the Oregon Coast.
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.
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.
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.
Adventures in Natural Beekeeping 