Miner bees are where it begins

National Pollinator Week officially began yesterday, so that’s my excuse for doubly belatedly posting about the bees that have emerged so far this spring. Spring begins with bumblebee queens hunting for a sheltered spot to build a new nest. On sunny days, honeybees come out to forage and replenish their stores as winter ends. And the […]

Tiny bees in the raspberries

I wouldn’t be looking forward to so many fruits if it weren’t for the bees. And since National Pollinator Week starts today, it seemed like a good excuse to spend a little time this morning looking for bees. It never ceases to amaze me, how many bees you can find. The big ones buzz pretty […]

It’s time to praise buttercups

It looks like it’s time for my annual post about Creeping Buttercups, or Ranunculus repens. They can really take over the place but there are three reasons why I let them:

Meanwhile, on the ground

What I consider my ground covers are doing their thing. Since I want the violets where they are, they’re not weeds, they’re wildflowers. The ajuga come from a six pack that I planted years ago, and after much coddling are finally looking good. The strawberries are only a couple years old, and happily spreading. This […]

Bees in the trees

The bees are in the trees, It’s a happy, buzzing breeze, Cause the bees are in the trees, And the pear blossoms are pleased, Down in the earth, up to the leaves, The miner bees are in the trees.

Bees high and low

So the bees flying around the top of the butterfly bush aren’t miner bees after all. The miner bees are somewhere else.

Mining for miner bees

When I was digging up some of the swallow-wort yesterday, I got an unexpectedly close-up look at one of the little brown bees I’ve seen darting around down on the ground and up in the fruit trees. Plus this was near an area of ground that stays bare and hard, and in the summer I […]

More bees on the collards

Bees on the left. Bees on the right. Bees on every side of the collard plants. Like many crucifers, from brussels sprouts and mustard greens to radishes and Chinese broccoli, collards pack a lot of flavor. Now, with the heat and flowers bolting so fierce bright and yellow, every part of the plant must be […]

Bees of Spring

There’s a fairly bare, hard-packed stretch of dry soil that serves as a path up the hill in my yard, where I often see little brown bees zooming back and forth close to the ground. This year I finally slowed down enough to get some pictures. And I found a whole community of bees.