Category: bees (Page 18 of 28)

Bug of the Week: Spring is in the Air

Spring has arrived in Arizona.

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The wildflowers are blooming.

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The bees are flying.

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Bees and flowers are made for each other,

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like this halictid sweat bee in a desert marigold,

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and this carpenter bee face first in a desert mallow flower.

Yes, spring is in the air.

Bug of the Week: Buzz Pollination by Bees

Yesterday we looked at silver senna flowers that I said were buzz pollinated. What does buzz pollination mean?

The stamens or pollen producing parts of certain flowers are enclosed, sort of like salt shakers.

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For example, the short, stout yellow stamens of this potato bush flower are buzz pollinated.

To get the pollen out, the bee grabs the stamens with its mandibles or jaws and then curls its abdomen around while vibrating at a certain pitch.

We have some adorable solitary bees that visit the potato bush often, but I have never been able to get a photograph of them in the act.

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Close, but not in the act. The little bees are just too fast.

Today I found a video where someone has captured these bees pollinating similar pepper flowers.

Turn up the volume, and you will hear why it maybe should be called “bizz” pollination instead of buzz pollination.

The tiny bees might not be easy to photograph, but this carpenter bee was more cooperative.

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Have you ever seen bees buzz pollinating a flower?

Bug of the Week: Results from Great Bee Count

Did you take part in the Great Bee Count last weekend?

I was able to go out and observe our wild sunflowers for fifteen minutes.

I saw five of these:

We have been seeing these small solitary bees on our Mexican hat flowers and wild sunflowers all summer. They are members of the genus Halictus, in the sweat bee family.

I also saw a bee that I knew about, but had never seen.

Can you see the white puffy or fuzzy area on its front leg? The white structures on its front leg mean that is a male leafcutter bee, genus Megachile. I see female leafcutter bees all the time, but this is the first time I have captured a male on film.

Of course, after I was done counting and put away my camera, a honey bee and a beautiful green sweat bee showed up. 🙂

Did you participate in the count? What did you see?

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