Growing With Science Blog

Right now not much is flowering, relatively speaking, but the dandelions are in full flower.

The honey bee is collecting pollen and nectar.

Do you notice another insect in the photograph?

The fly is approaching.

Now it is sitting still.

Now watch what happens when the bee leaves.

It actually hopped off again when the honey bee came back.

Just a little drama around a dandelion flower.

By the way, because they bloom this time of year, dandelions are an important source of food for honey bees. Do you have any blooming in your yard?

More bee photos from the archives today.

These  are two digger bees in a flower called a prickly poppy.

Someone mentioned lately that you rarely see more than one bee per flower. I guess this flower has enough nectar and pollen to share.

Did you recognize the bee last week was a bumble bee?

How do you tell a carpenter bee from a bumble bee? Actually it is difficult to tell in the species that are yellow and black, but one clue is that a carpenter bee has a bare, shiny abdomen and the bumble bee has a fuzzy abdomen.

So, bug experts,

does this archive photo show a bumble bee or a carpenter bee?

Just for fun, here are some different kinds of bees caught in slow motion.