Carpenter Bee on patrol

Right about when the bumblebees show up, the Carpenter bees come out too. Bumblebees are placid, fuzzy fellows that take no notice of you. While they look like extra large bumblebee, the Eastern Carpenter Bees have a shiny tail, and the males will get in your face, and tell you in no uncertain terms to […]

A day of good bee hunting

I enjoyed hosting today on the Life-Friendly Garden Tour. Nice people stopped by and let me show off my bees. If you’re interested at all in bees, you know about honeybees going missing. If you want to help honeybees, the best way is to keep a hive. It’s not hard, so they say, and it […]

Carpenter bees

More bees. Here’s some carpenter bees big and small. Both kinds tunnel their nests into wood, but they’re two separate families. The last few years in the spring, a big fat male carpenter bee patrols the yard. He can be pretty intimidating, flying by, but he can’t sting you. Aside from the pure bluster, you […]

Goldenrod for a lazy bee

We went out for dim sum today, and I feel as lazy as a bee hanging on the goldenrod with a faceful of flower. This is a Carpenter bee, and you know it’s a male because of the light spot on his face. He was so sleepy, I could move the goldenrod to an easier […]

Buzzapalooza on the goldenrod

While I’ve been reading, all sorts of bees have been busy buzzing at the Goldenrod Buzzapalooza.

A bee seeing you

It turns out one of the bees that has been cruising the yard has been cruising the yard looking for dates.

Ode to asters

Oh, asters, wild asters, beloved of bees. You tumble down hill and sway on the breeze.

The bees’ last summer dance party

Don’t tell the bees that summer is ending. They’re still crowding out the butterflies on the butterfly bush. The butterfly bush is where I first met the carpenter bees, and they’re still scaring me whenever I brush by. Yes, it may be hard to be believe but there are bees that scare me. That rattling […]

Collards in flower

Have you ever bought some bok choy and left it in the fridge while you figured out what to do with it until it opened up bright yellow flowers? That’s why my collard plants did, only six feet tall. Tall, outspread candelabrae of flat yellow flowers just begging for big fat bees. It’s covered in […]

Bee v. Bee

There’s a big, fat bee that likes to hover over the patio controlling the territory. He looks like a large bumblebee, but the white spot on its face and shiny butt mark him out as a male Carpenter bee. I’ve been buzzed a few times passing through. Lucky for me, I’m not another bee.