Outdoor Hour Challenge #27 Bees

“During many years naturalists have been studying the habits and adaptations of the honeybees, and, as yet, the story of their wonderful ways is not half told. Although we know fairly well what the bees do, yet we have no inkling of the processes which lead to a perfect government and management of the bee community; and even the beginner may discover things never known before about these fascinating little workers.”
Handbook of Nature Study, page 391

We have lots of honeybees and bumblebees in our area of California. I love to watch them on my lavender plants and on my other garden flowers. I love to sit and let them buzz up right next to me so I can see them clearly. I have had a sting or two in my life but usually because I stepped on a bee in the grass with bare feet.

“The structure of honeycomb has been for ages admired by mathematicians, who have measured the angles of the cells and demonstrated the accurate manner in which the rhomb-shaped cell changes at its base to a three-faced pyramid; and have proved that, considering the material of construction, honeycomb exemplifies the strongest and most economic structure possible for the storing of liquid contents.”
Handbook of Nature Study, page 395

I am fascinated with the geometry of the honeycomb and read with interest the section in the Handbook on honeycombs starting on page 395. Maybe it has something to do with my love for eating honey.

Outdoor Hour Challenge #27
Focus on Insects-Bees
(You may also like to look at the Yellow Jacket and Mud Dauber Challenge.)

1. This week read about bees in the Handbook of Nature Study, pages 384-400. There are sections on leaf-cutter bees, carpenter bees, bumblebees, and honeybees in the Handbook of Nature Study. You may not have every kind of bee in your location but I found the information very interesting and maybe someday I will have the opportunity to observe all the different kinds of bees discussed in the book. Remember our focus right now is on insects so if you don’t find a bee to observe, you can always look for other insects to study.

2. Your 15-20 minutes of outdoor time this week can be spent looking for insects. Make your goal just to get outside in your own backyard and find something to observe with your child. If during that time you find an insect, take as long as you can to describe what it looks like, what it is doing, and then try to come up with some questions to answer later with your Handbook of Nature Study or a field guide. If you find a bee to observe during your nature time or at another time during the week, use the opportunity to relate some facts from your reading in the Handbook of Nature Study.



3. Give the opportunity for a nature journal entry. It might be hard to draw a bee from your outdoor time but it would be a great idea to find a photo of a bee online or use the diagram on page 391 to make an entry about bees in your journal. Another idea is to use a notebooking page and fill it in with your thoughts and observations from your Outdoor Hour time.

4. If you are keeping a running list of insects you have observed during this focus period, add the insect’s name to the list.

 
Post an entry on your blog sharing your experiences. You can link up by clicking the carnival button or you can send them directly to me: harmonyfinearts@yahoo.com.

Textures and Colors of the Garden

Just enjoy the beauty of color and texture today.

Bee on a coneflower.



Sunflower opening up.



Coleus colors.


Leaf that was a snack for little finches.


Barb-Harmony Art Mom

Lavender Days with Bumblebees

Today was lavender cutting day. Our lavender plants were over taking our front steps and walkway so I took out the scissors and gave it a trim. It was early and when I started there were no bees collecting pollen. By the time I finished, they were happily buzzing all around me.

The are really big dark bees with fuzzy yellow spots on them.


They don't stay still very long but I was able to get a few photos.


This one was more fuzzy yellow than the rest but just as busy and fast.

The Handbook of Nature Study, pages 389-391
"The bumblebees are the chief pollen carriers for most of our wild flowers as well as for the clovers and other farm plants. They should, therefore, be kindly treated everywhere; and we should be careful not to hurt the big queen bumblebee, which we see often in May."

The HNS on page 391 under observations (number 2) says to catch a bumblebee in a jar to observe it. I may try this. This was a perfect supplement to our study of pollinators.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom

April Showers of Photos: April 4

For my photo today I found something very pink and beautiful to take photos of for the challenge. The bees were thick in this bush and I couldn't help but capture one of the busy little creatures with my camera. (click the photo to make it larger)

If I were a bee, I would love to dance in a pink flower too.

Thanks to Jennifer for hosting an April Showers of Photos challenge on her blog S/V Mari Hal-O-Jen.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom

Honeybee: Gardens that Help

In the latest issue of Organic Gardening, the cover article is all about bees. I had heard how honeybees had a bad winter last year and there are far fewer of them around but I hadn't taken the time to find out what it was all about. Interesting stuff. The article brings out that scientists estimate that "more than 30% of the nation's 2.4 million honeybee colonies died out over the fall and winter of 2006-2007" due to Colony Collapse Disorder. 35 states reported damage due to CCD. The damage was as high as 80-90 percent of their hives for some beekeepers.

What can we do to help the situation as home gardeners? The article brings out some easy steps that can make a difference. I always start planning my spring garden during the cold winter months so this article came at the right time and had lots of practical ways that I can plan my garden to benefit the local honeybee population.

Here are some ideas from Organic Gardening:
1. Plant flowers that are blue, purple, violet, white or yellow. The article suggests leaving the dandelions and Dutch clover in your lawn. Tip: Visit your local nursery and buy whatever you can find that has bees on it. My tip: Color and lots of it.

2. Skip flowers like marigolds and hollyhocks, impatiens, and salvia. The flowers are too dense for the bees to gather much nectar.

3. Try to plant for a three season bloom. The article says, "Spring is tough for bees. Common spring bulbs like tulips and daffodils aren't attractive to bees. It's good to have fruit trees or flowering shrubs to cover their early season needs." Some choices they list for spring are calendula and wild lilac. For fall they suggest sedum, asters, and goldenrod.

4. Bees stay longer in gardens at least 3 to 4 feet in diameter.

5. Bees need a water source.

The article was very enlightening and will help me plan my garden to include plants and flowers that can help my local honeybees. This is a great way to tie your study of insects into your gardening time. I am planning on keeping track of which plants have bees on them. I know they *love* my spanish lavender and I have it planted in two long rows along the edge of my garden. Even now in the middle of November it has many bees in it every afternoon. I have observed bees in my cosmos that are left in the back of the garden. The plant doesn't look as nice as it did in the middle of summer but the bees seem to enjoy it. My neighbor's rosemary plants are always full of bees so that might be a good plant to try too.

It may not seem like each individual garden can help but according to this article about bees, we can.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom