Posts Tagged: tower of jewels

The Boys Are Back in Town!

The boys are back in town. After the long winter and rainy spring, the boys are back in town. That would be the male Valley carpenter bees,...

A male Valley carpenter bee, Xylocopa varipuncta, nectaring on a tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii, in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A male Valley carpenter bee, Xylocopa varipuncta, nectaring on a tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii, in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The male Valley carpenter bee is often mistaken for a bumble bee, or what some have called a "golden bumble bee." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The male Valley carpenter bee is often mistaken for a bumble bee, or what some have called a "golden bumble bee." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The male Valley carpenter bee didn't perceive the photographer as a threat. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The male Valley carpenter bee didn't perceive the photographer as a threat. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The male Valley carpenter bee protrudes his proboscis (tongue) to sip nectar from a tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The male Valley carpenter bee protrudes his proboscis (tongue) to sip nectar from a tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

And off he goes, a male Valley carpenter bee in flight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

And off he goes, a male Valley carpenter bee in flight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Tower of Jewels: Aptly Named

Let's hear it for the tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii. Native to the island of Tenerife and belonging to the family Boraginaceae, it can tower as...

A honey bee heads for a tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii, a biennual. This image was taken in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A honey bee heads for a tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii, a biennual. This image was taken in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Nectar! Honey bees love echium due to its high nectar content. This one also yields blue pollen. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Nectar! Honey bees love echium due to its high nectar content. This one also yields blue pollen. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

On the move! It's off to find another nectar-rich blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

On the move! It's off to find another nectar-rich blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Time to head home to the colony and unload the nectar and pollen. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Time to head home to the colony and unload the nectar and pollen. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Tower of Beauty: Tower of Bees

The Echium wildpretii is commonly known as "The Tower of Jewels" but it ought to be known as "The Tower of Beauty." That's especially when honey...

A honey bee packing blue pollen as it forages on the tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A honey bee packing blue pollen as it forages on the tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

This foraging honey bee can't get enough of the tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

This foraging honey bee can't get enough of the tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Honey bee wings glisten in the early morning sun. The tower of jewels is sometimes "the tower of bees." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Honey bee wings glisten in the early morning sun. The tower of jewels is sometimes "the tower of bees." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Cover Girl

If any insect should be the "cover girl" during National Pollinator Week, it ought to be the honey bee (Apis mellifera) Specifically, it should be...

Cover Girl! Cover of the Journal of Economic Entomology shows an image of a worker bee heading toward a tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Cover Girl! Cover of the Journal of Economic Entomology shows an image of a worker bee heading toward a tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Celebrating the Honey Bees and Earth Day

Doom or gloom? Boom or bloom? Today is Earth Day, and millions of folks around the world stopped--at least for a moment--to pay tribute to the 46th...

Two honey bees forage in the tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Two honey bees forage in the tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A cordovan honey bee dives head first in a tower of jewels blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A cordovan honey bee dives head first in a tower of jewels blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A honey bee, its tongue or proboscis extended, heads for a nectar treat. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A honey bee, its tongue or proboscis extended, heads for a nectar treat. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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