With all the news of honey bees disappearing and honey bee colony collapse, I was relieved to see our honey bees seem to be doing fine this week.

honey bee

They are gathering nectar and pollen from a southwestern native plant called pink fairy duster, Calliandra eriophylla.

honey bee

The fairy duster plant doesn’t have flower petals, but instead has wispy clusters of pink stamens (the male or pollen-producing part of the flower).

pink fairy duster

It was nice to get outside for a few minutes, it was a great stress reliever.