Palamedes

Welcome back, Bees!

tofitropic said: Bumble bees communal sleeping site, every dusk theese bumble bees will come together hanging on the aerial roots of tiger Boston fern. At daylight they are solitary, but when night falls they prefer company.

How cool it that!

I have seen those bunch of bumble bees in that same spot at least this three years, always on that same spot. We have other hanging baskets with boston ferns, but they keep sleeping on that spot.
I believe they have good memory to remember their save sleeping sites, and pheromones that atracts friends. This two will make it possible for overlapping generation to keep their knowledge and that made possible for thoose bumble bee keep present on that spot, despite their short live span. (I do not know how long they can live as adult bee, but almost certain it wont span years).
The other possibility I could think of is: they might marked the spot they spent the night chemically, and that persisten chemical signal stay active chemically at least for few days.
What ever the reasons is, that phenomenon is amazing, especially for small insects. (even I lost my keys all the times, hmm, probably I need pheromones spray on my key and stuffs, and aditional sense for pheromones tracking)

Tofi, that pic is awesome! I never knew that about bumbles. I have found them on my flowers early in the morning; they seem to be in a trance state. Did some looking up about the eastern tent caterpillars; they are supposed to eat the foliage of the tree their web is on, which includes wild cherry trees; I have three trees in my back yard and there's numerous webs in them. Evidently the cats didn't read the info; they are coming out and crawling all over the place! My son and I were outside today working and I must have drowned 20 of them.

Here's a bee for you...

Ladybug morphing.

Toad

I used to make concrete pots years ago, but since they are too heavy, I do not use them as pots anymore, there are hundreds of them on the garden, but they are useful as stool to elevate plastic pots. Many have became home for insects and critters, and there are two Honey bee (Apis cerana) colony made it their home. I do nothing to them, as they are not aggressive. Just need to stay clear when they do their swarm, it quite scarry when they did it.

A swarm is a sight Tofi! Very cool.

Drug an old tarp from under the deck, a simple act that was almost a disaster. Paper wasps had built a nest in there, (They love tarps btw. So be careful) and I had two mobility challenged people sitting on the deck. Fortunately I was far enough away when they got airborne. I'd inadvertently folded over their exit and it was still small. phew! Last year's nest was still on there and it was fairly large.



Seemed every Gaillardia bloom had a personal Sweat bee.



Honey bees preferred the Poppies.

Tofi, that is amazing and wonderful!

I wish we can grow poppies here in my country. very vibrant, Bees must find it irresistible.
thanks Will and joannakat, I love bees but unfortunately highly allergic of their stings, got asthma like reaction everytime I got stung, so I always prepare anaphylacsis medication at home, and stay clear from most bees and wasp, but I really love to have a bee farm.😁😁😁

Great pix, will

Those are great bee shots Will.
Tofi, that is really neat to have a honey bee home out of pots. A few years back a friend of mine had an old bird house up in her oak, which a bunch of honey bees made a hive in, they were there for a summer then disappeared all at once...gone.

My foundling child has a hive that's moved into the edge of the woods behind her house. She and the kids are excited about it. I am to.

Rainbow Scarab Beetle, very sparkly.

Brugmansias are staple food for honey bees in my garden. copious pollen.

Found a ball millipede (Giant pill millipede), eating the remains of snake skin. It immidiately turn into ball upon slight vibration of my foot step.

A sticky scene on a little hellebore…

tofitropic said: Found a ball millipede (Giant pill millipede), eating the remains of snake skin. It immidiately turn into ball upon slight vibration of my foot step.

It looks like a work of art, like a wood carving.

You have an interesting garden Tofi.
I never notice any pollinators on my Brugmansia, not a bee, butterfly or hummer, mine is pink and I really don't detect an aroma to the flowers. Someone told me the flowers attract nocturnal pollinators like bats and moths.