Although the temperatures were cool on Tuesday afternoon, this little bee was busy in the garden of my neighbor and friend Cindy Dyer. The plant on which the bee was feeding technically bight be considered to be a weed, and not a flower, but the bee surely did not mind.
Most of the pollen that I am used to seeing is bright yellow, but in this case it appeared to red in color. As you can see in the second photo, the bee was using a headfirst approach—for extended periods of time it would bury its head among the small petals of this plant.
I went searching around on internet trying to identify the plant and I think it might be Henbit (Lamium amplexicaule). I would welcome a confirmation or correction of this identification by someone more familiar with flowers than I am.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
These are both intriguing images, the first for the pollen colour (wow!) and the second for the iridescent wings – they’re so beautiful and well complemented by the colour of the flowers. Love these very much Mike!
Thanks, Liz. I may soon be shooting more in my neighbors’ gardens as the authorities begin totally closing the normal wildlife refuges where I normally go to photograph nature. As you can probably tell, I took the photos with my macro lens, which I haven’t used much during the winter. During the summer it is my favorite lens to use.
I’m glad your neighbours’ have insect friendly gardens! Shortly I’ll be posting asters and bumble bees 🙂
Wow, fabulous images. Incidentally, they’re definitely flowers – a “weed” is simply a flower with ambition and a roving spirit!
Ambitious and a roving spirit? I love that definition.
Hahaha .. well said Mr Platypus!
It’s a great comfort to know that most of the folk out there Don’t Worry!
Do I detect you channeling Bobby McFerrin? 🙂
Caught in the act!
I am afraid, Gary, that we share a quirky sense of humor and perhaps grew up with the same music. 🙂
Yes, very likely indeed. But don’t be afraid. I’m sure that, while we’re having to embrace Lonesome Town, we’ll be able to keep Desolation Row at bay. ;}
Nice to see😊
Nice Mike! Soon we will be seeing Dragonfles!
Hopefully that is the case, Reed, though the locations where I usually find them may all be closed. All of our county parks essentially closed and one National Park Service Park is closed to vehicles. I’ll just have to wait and see what happens.
Stunning photos, Mike. Lovely to see the bees out in the sunshine, carrying on as normal, even if we can’t at present.
We loved the sunshine yesterday! So far we have some today, too! Work on little bees 🙂
I cannot help but think how much Benjamin will love these photos! Not so very long ago, he would pronounce his name as “Be-N-Ja-Min” as a sign of his love of bees. The pronunciation wore off, the love of bees did not! Beeutiful photos, Mr. Mike! A quote that Benjamin learned (wonder where?) and oft repeats of his also loved Dandelions …”A weed is but an unloved flower.” – Ella Wheeler Wilcox. Thank-YOU!
I love the quote, Ellen. I hope that you are well and are managing ok during these crazy times.
Very nice, Mike! I hope your neighbors’ gardens will be providing a variety of opportunities for you as spring develops. Sorry to read above that your best refuge has closed. We can still go to two of our wild state refuges that have no services and generally few people, and we’ll be checking each time before we go.
Thanks, Ellen. Not everything is closed yet–I will just have to look harder, I guess to find the ones that are open. 🙂
That does look like a henbit blossom. Nice shots! I know how small they are.
Thanks. The blossoms and the bee were both pretty small. My friend was clearing the henbit out of her garden, viewing it as a week, but I read somewhere that henbit is an important pollen source for early season bees.
That would make sense. They flower very early.
Such bright pollen! The Brits call this ‘dead nettle’ (Lamium purpureum) and it is an important early source of pollen for bees, so I hope Cindy leaves a few for the pollinators.