My Tangelo tree is in full bloom…..aren’t these beautiful? This tree is just a few feet from my kitchen window…..the breeze blows the fragrance right into my kitchen. It is my favorite time of year.
But I am not the only one who appreciates them…….this big fat Bumble Bee was only one of six that I saw on the tree. We must have a small hive of them nearby. They are so soft and fuzzy looking ….it reminds me of a story…..my brother, Dan, as a child of about 5, caught one……he immediately let it go…..and brushing his hand…repeated over and over..”hot birdy, hot birdy”. As I stood and watched this one….I could understand the fascination of picking one up and holding it.
I was glad to see the Honey Bees at the blossoms also. You can see it is sipping nectar.
I was surprised to see two differently colored bees. Guess I’ll have to study up….
You can see how much darker this one is. I followed it all over the tree trying to get a good picture of it’s abdomen.
Until I got interested in having hives of my own, I didn’t realize there were some many kinds of bees….Italian, Russian, Carnolian and the European Dark Honey Bee, just to name a few. …the European Dark Honey Bees are some of the first bees imported from Europe. This could be one of those.
These two seemed to work well together…the bee on the R has pollen on its hind legs while the bee on the L is definitely sipping nectar, perhaps they each had a different job.
I don’t treat my trees with chemicals …so the leaves aren’t always the prettiest….but they keep on producing. I hope that this time next year…it will be my bees on this tree.
I hope they will be staying in your hives.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid I petted a bumblebee and the darn thing stung me. Good thing I wasn't allergic.
If you don't live in paradise, you live durn close. I love reading about nature in your yard.
ReplyDeleteWe have two different kind here. The darker one is smaller here. Those blossoms are so pretty. I would love to smell them. Helen
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photos. You would never get me to leave the kitchen with that lovely fragrance blowing through. Diane
ReplyDeleteBeautiful series of photos! It's nice to see spring blossoms with the bees busily at work, but it will be quite a while before I see the real thing.
ReplyDeleteYou have some very nice macros. I can't hardly wait to get outside and get some macros of bees. Right now we got very cold winds and snow on the ground.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know there were so many species of bees. Your photos are lovely.
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