The Bees are Back

Monday, this week, the mums had blossomed. And there was nothing but silence.

I look forward every year to the blooming of Ann’s mums outside our back door for number and variety of pollinators they bring. I hunker down as close as I can, close my eyes, and just listen to the buzz, picking out variations in pitch, volume and tone–the voices of green bees, bee flies, syrphid flies, bumble bees, other solitary bees and wasps of all sorts.

But Monday, there were no visitors. And that had me worried.

Then Thursday, they began to show up, and by yesterday, they were back in full force. So I’m likely to have more images from my time dwelling among the bees and the mums. There is so much more going on here than we know.

And I wish, just for a minute, I could sense what the insects do. Some see mating signals–even from the flower; some see food of nectar, others see a meal in the other insects feeding on nectar; for some, it’s a singles bar and they are ready to swing. And I  see the entomological equivalent of the bar room scene off Star Wars–a hundred aliens just hanging out, choosing whatever pleasure they can find before winter.

Related articles

• Bee colony collapse associated with viral, fungal infection, biologist says (sciencedaily.com)
• Seasonal Shifts Could Be Confusing Bees (treehugger.com)