Bottle Brush, Frog Pond, Honey Bees and Butterfly 3.6.14

The Honey Bees are not the only ones who enjoy the Bottle Brush Bushes in my yard.

This Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly has been in and out a few times already this year.

With a 5” wingspan and slow fluttering wings it is one of the easiest to photograph.

Here it is sharing space with a Honey Bee. The Orange Blossoms are starting to bloom now so the Bottle Brush is not as busy as it can be at times.

When foraging is hard there can be as many as 4 or 5 bees on each bloom.

I have a bird bath about 10’ from my hives but the Honey Bees prefer the “frog pond”.

It sits on my rear deck…catches water from a rain gutter and normally has water in it all the time. Early morning condensation drips into it also.

You can see there are plenty of bees taking advantage of it.

It sits just below my clothes line and they take water from the fresh hung clothes.

If you hang your clothes out……and they buzz when you fold them…..please let the Honey Bee outside. I’ve had to do that a few times….now I shake them good before bringing them  in.