Bee Hopeful

Day 281: I have good reason to "bee hopeful" that my milkweed plants will produce seed pods this year. They are absolutely covered with a large assortment of insects...stinging insects, mind you!...who visit one flower after another. Bees dominate the mix, but there are wasps of every size from miniscule to man-eating, so I stood well back and zoomed in for the photo. Can I identify them? No, although I think I can safely say that these two are honeybees, a species to which I am deadly allergic. Was I worried that I would get stung? Not at all, because they were firmly focused on the work at hand, gathering nectar from the sweet-scented flowers. Surely sombody's going to get pollinia caught on a leg!

Bee-have Yourself, Please!

 

Day 327: These days, I give the raspberry patch a wide berth, and with good reason. The honeybees are hard at work, and I am deathly allergic to their stings. My reaction to the stings of wasps is not life-threatening, but nevertheless rather dramatic. I carried an epi-pen for many years and never had occasion to use it because I assiduously avoided confrontations, and in any case, the testing my doctor insisted on performing every few years was so agonizing that if he had told me my only other alternative was to stay indoors, I probably would have complied. Did I mention that wasp stings cause me to swell up like a balloon, and that two weeks later, the six-inch diameter patch of skin surrounding the sting turns black and peels off in thick chunks, leaving burn-like, painful red areas behind?

The raspberries are currently the big draw in the yard, and while I am happy to see honeybees (even introduced species like Apis mellifera here), I cannot feel entirely welcoming. However, once the raspberries begin to ripen, they'll move on, having done their job and leaving me to enjoy the fruits of their labours.

How Doth The Little Busy Bee

Day 302: I was too close for someone who is seriously allergic to their stings, but the Honey Bees had more important things on their minds than an interloper with a camera. Nevertheless, I get a little nervous when I step out on the back porch and these critters are working the sedum over. Still, with the Honey Bee population in decline, it makes me glad to see them in numbers and at their industry.

Years ago, my next-door neighbor had a hive in one of his exterior house walls. If you stood at a safe distance, you could see hundreds of them flying in and out, entering through a narrow gap between the boards under the eaves. He advised me to stay clear: "They get mad sometimes when I mow." I don't know that he ever destroyed the hive, so it's possible that my abundant population of bees comes from his house. In any event, if he ever tears that wall down, I want to be around for the honey.

A Taste For Cilantro

Day 292: Of all the things they have to choose from in my garden, the Honey Bees (Apis mellifera) and several species of tiny non-aggressive wasps and flies seem to be particularly attracted to the cilantro (coriander). On the other hand, the Bumblebees are drawn to Phacelia, the only plant to grow from a mixed packet of "bee flower" seeds I was given by a friend. I had let one batch of cilantro bolt accidentally, but when I realized it was drawing pollinators, I allowed the rest of it to run its course. As a bonus, it looks like I'm going to have lots of coriander seeds, both for cooking and for saving over to plant again next year.