Trying to Bee Funny

Here's a two-spotted bumblebee looking lovely in a purple flower. Do you know what a bee says when it's in a sauna? "Swarm in here!" Click to enlarge.

Here's a honey bee in a pink rose. It lives in the United States. It's a USB. 

My favorite bee, the golden northern bumblebee -- big, pretty, and furry. If you hold one of these in your hand, do you know what you'll have in your eye? Beauty. Because beauty is in the eye of the bee holder.

 

This is a big common eastern bumblebee with sacs full of yellow pollen on its rear legs. If you went to a beekeeper to buy some bees and the beekeeper threw in some extras at no charge -- they'd be freebies.

Golden northern bumblebee again. Can't believe this blog.

Time to Smell the Roses

Brooklyn smells like roses this week. 

Well, maybe not everywhere -- but the parks smell great. I was home for a week-long stay-cation and I took a walk in nearby Brooklyn Bridge Park every day. The air was sweet with the scent of roses and I recommend a visit while they are still in bloom. And when you pause to smell them, take a look inside.

You might find a rose weevil, making holes.

Or a lovely half-green sweat bee.

Or maybe a honeybee with its pollen sacs full of yellow rose pollen. 

Or a Japanese beetle. Click on the photos to enlarge. 

Or even a pair of common eastern bumblebees double-teaming. 

There's lots more going on in there. Take a look. And a sniff. 

Remembering Summer Bees

I know everyone is busy with holiday preparation, so just a few words about some bees I saw in June. I've seen this bee before -- it's Bombus fervidus, commonly called the golden northern bumble bee -- but it has always managed to fly away before I could take a photograph. I snuck up on this one while its head was deep inside a wild bergamot blossom. See all the furry yellow stripes on its abdomen? Click to enlarge. 

The bumblebees I usually see are these common eastern bumblebees, Bombus impatiens.  Note the black abdomens and short yellow jackets. I saw all the bees in this blog post in Brooklyn Heights. 

I also sometimes see brown-belted bumblebees, Bombus griseocollis, like this one. Note the "hip-length" furry jacket.  

The golden northern bumblebee again -- I'd call that a "knee-length" yellow fur coat if bees had their knees where ours are. 

Happy Labor Day!

The common eastern bumblebee, Bombus impatiens, with big yellow sacs of pollen on its legs. Click to enlarge. 

Bees, by Norman Rowland Gale

You voluble,
Velvelty
Vehement fellows
That play on your 
Flying and 
Musical cellos,
All goldenly
Girdled you 
Serenade clover, 
Each artist in 
Bass but a 
Bibulous rover! 

You passionate,
Powdery
Pastoral bandits,
Who gave you your 
Roaming and 
Rollicking mandates?
Come out of my 
Foxglove; come
Out of my roses
You bees with the 
Plushy and 
Plausible noses!