We took a family trip south through the rural Virginia countryside last weekend and passed yard after yard with Southern Magnolia, Magnolia grandiflora, trees towering over the ranch houses. This is not a tree for the faint-of-heart. But it is one for bees and other pollinators. Southern Magnolia blossoms have the largest nectaries–pools of nectar–and […]
The Hawthorn tree, Crataegus sp. in my neighborhood is covered in flowers right now… and covered in bees–look close to see one flying! I saw all sizes, from very tiny 1/4 inch ones to bumblebees. They are high up in the branches and, unfortunately, their hum can only be heard during the brief lags in passing […]
Whatever I was going to write about flew out the window when I discovered mason bees are using our new house. Honestly, I never expected this to work so quickly. First, the photos I managed to take! These bees know exactly where they are going. They land in a tube and quickly disappear. They may […]