Do Bees Sleep?

I’ve been wondering if bees sleep since I saw all these black bees zooming about in the early evening. They seemed to be chasing each other. Then they clustered on a few stalks of grass, jostling and fighting for the good spots, until they finally settled down. When I looked them up, I was told […]

Tomato, tomato, tomato

Today a monarch flew right in my face and danced off laughing at me. Has it been watching Venture Brothers? Meanwhile, my one tomato plant, Early Girl, has cluster after cluster of sweet nuggets that get redder by the hour. And the volunteer tomato is nearly ready for a taste test. I see lots of […]

Coneflower

As I said earlier, the coneflowers have been a happening place for bees since the middle of July. Other flowers have been popular party places, but nothing seems to have attracted so many bees for so long as the coneflowers. There’s still lots of bees, but the flowers are getting a bit ratty looking, and […]

Snapdragons

The snapdragons have been flowering for about a month now. I’ve been leaning in to get a whiff of their bubblegum / tutti frutti scent from time to time. And then I saw the weirdest bee. This was right after Readercon, so finding out what it was sort of got lost in the shuffle. And […]

Hawkweed

Lately these leggy yellow flowers are all over the coneflowers. They look a bit like dandelion flowers, but the dandelion flowered in spring; it’s high summer now, totally the wrong season. Plus there are candelabra of flowers on each plant, and it’s a lot taller. Hawkweed. So, any guesses why I’m interested in it?

What Butterfly Bush?

You know you’re obsessed with bees when you buy a Butterfly Bush (or Buddleia) because there are gigantic bees buzzing all over it. Meanwhile, there was a plant sprouting in my yard that I half-knew what it was but couldn’t quite name it, until I plunked down the storebought Buddleia. I took one look and […]

Goldenrod

The coneflowers have been feeding bees for weeks now. So have the veronica, the wood sorrel, the St. John’s wort, and the bladder campion. It’s starting to get boring, all that growing and flowering and growing and flowering. Even the squash blossoms are getting familar. So it’s nice to see goldenrod join the crowd, complete […]

Mystery Grape

See those vines? I’m used to watching my step when I climb past them. I’m used to hearing bees buzzing my ears. Lately, there’s bees under those leaves, and it’s a little unnerving to have them buzzing around my feet.

Squash Blossoms

Meanwhile, Mystery Squash #1 continues to take over its corner of the known world. It’s clambering over those daylilies on the right and powering up the slope toward Mystery Squash #2. There’s at least half a dozen more Mystery Squashes scattered out back. And they’re flowering.

Sunflowers are feeding bees

Presenting the big-ass sunflower that was just a tall weed that I hoped was a sunflower about a month ago. If you look close enough, you might see the bee on its face. And what’s the bee here for?