Backyard and Beyond

Starting out from Brooklyn, an amateur naturalist explores our world.

As John Burroughs said, “The place to observe nature is where you are.”

First Bee

My first wild* bee of the season. This is an Unequal Cellophane Bee/Colletes inaequalis. The species is one of the earliest to emerge out of the ground of winter. Reports had them showing up further out on Long Island and in New Jersey in February, but this sighting was March 21.

A fast mover, rarely pausing. This was on a Japanese Andromeda/Pieris japonica bush in Green-Wood.

On Lesser Celandine/Ficaria verna.

On Dandelion/Taraxacum. (These pollen-drenched visitors to a couple yellow flowers were photographed 3/26.)

*Wild, indigenous, or native bees: meaning not Honey Bees/Apis mellifera, best thought of as farm animals.

mthew

2 responses to “First Bee”

  1. Paul Lamb

    The naturalist/writer Sue Hubbell said in one of her books that a group of beekeepers in her southern Missouri town held a fair to raise awareness of beekeeping and the value to the economy. The local cattle ranchers were skeptical but interested, marveling that she let her “livestock” roam freely and fully expected them to return to the “barn” at the end of the day.

    Reply
    1. mthew

      Why are there more cattle dogs to see the beeves home?

      Reply

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