Posts Tagged: pollen

Get Ready...It's Happening...World Bee Day...

Get ready...it's happening...the annual World Bee Day... Monday, May 20 is World Bee Day, as declared by the United Nations "to raise awareness...

A bumble bee forages on Coreopsis in Vacaville. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A bumble bee forages on Coreopsis in Vacaville. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Yellow pollen from Coreopsis covers this bumble bee like gold dust. (Photo by Kathy Keatley)

Yellow pollen from Coreopsis covers this bumble bee like gold dust. (Photo by Kathy Keatley)

Here's a good foraging spot on the Coreopsis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Here's a good foraging spot on the Coreopsis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Wings up, time to go. A bumble bee ready to take flight from a Coreopsis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Wings up, time to go. A bumble bee ready to take flight from a Coreopsis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Monarch Butterflies as Pollinators

"More than beautiful, monarch butterflies contribute to the health of our planet. While feeding on nectar, they pollinate many types of...

Bees are the most well known pollinators, but butterflies, including monarchs, are pollinators, too. This monarch butterfly, sipping nectar in a Vacaville garden, came up with a head full of pollen. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bees are the most well known pollinators, but butterflies, including monarchs, are pollinators, too. This monarch butterfly, sipping nectar in a Vacaville garden, came up with a head full of pollen. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Celebrating the Honey Bee on Labor Day

It's Labor Day but "The Girls" continue to work. "The Girls" are the honey bees, a great example of a matriarchal society. How many workers...

A honey bee, packing a load of orange pollen, buzzes over a red zinnia in a Vacaville pollinator garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A honey bee, packing a load of orange pollen, buzzes over a red zinnia in a Vacaville pollinator garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Packing the Red Pollen

Ever seen a honey bee packing red pollen?  Rock purslane (Calandrinia grandiflora) is one flower that yields red pollen.  It's a...

A honey bee packing red pollen as she visits another rock purslane blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A honey bee packing red pollen as she visits another rock purslane blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A little adjustment of her pollen load and the honey bee reaches a rock purslane blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A little adjustment of her pollen load and the honey bee reaches a rock purslane blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A 'Morning' Carpenter Bee and an Evening Primrose

As National Pollinator Month winds down, let's visit a "morning" carpenter bee and an evening primrose. The evening primrose, Oenothera...

A female Valley carpenter bee, Xylocopa sonorina, heads for evening primrose in a Vacaville pollinator garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A female Valley carpenter bee, Xylocopa sonorina, heads for evening primrose in a Vacaville pollinator garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Valley carpenter bee slides inside the evening primrose. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Valley carpenter bee slides inside the evening primrose. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Valley carpenter bee rolling in the pollen of the evening primrose. Note the metallic wings. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Valley carpenter bee rolling in the pollen of the evening primrose. Note the metallic wings. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

And it's off to forage in another blossom. Valley carpenter bee is loaded with pollen. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

And it's off to forage in another blossom. Valley carpenter bee is loaded with pollen. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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