Wild Bees

The day we had last weekend when the temps went up to 60 was wonderful.   Even the wild bees thought so.   [Our three hives died this winter, so they're not ours]  They came by the dozen to feast on the chicken feed, which must have some sweet and some protein in it.

We have never seen wild bees out here in these numbers before.  Especially in February.  

   

Seriously, we never saw honey bees at all until the year we got ours.   That year I saw one on New Year's Day [it was 55 degrees] and took it as a sign that we should get some bees.  So we did.    
Since then we know of at least 2 more people out here that have gotten hives in the last couple of years.    These bees could be theirs.   

Or they could be the swarm we caught last year that absconded.  It's very possible that they found a nice tree in our woods that they preferred to the hive boxes.    I hope so.   I'd sure like to have some of these genetics. 

Notice the pollen baskets on this girl.    She's gathering stuff off the chicken feed to take home to the brood.   

Early Bees

I'm really excited about starting the hives this year.  The truth is, I've become just a teensy bit obsessed with bees.

I've been reading some great books and watching tons of YouTube vids all about bees.  

I heart YouTube.

But that's not what I'm here to tell you.

I'm here to tell you that the feral bees are out!!

We've seen a couple of different kinds - the brown/gold kind and the black/yellow kind.     I'm thinking that maybe there are two feral hives somewhere close by.

It's possible.

My photography skills aren't stellar, but I just had to try to get some photographic proof that the feral bees are flying.

So today I sat down in our bed of grape hyacinth and took lots of pics of flowers where bees had just been. 

It's hard to take pics of bees.

They move around a lot.

A lot, I tell you!

And then I got this one.

I hope you're impressed.

Take a look at that big yellow spot on her back leg.   That's a pollet basket.  Bees mix the pollen they gather with bee spit and pack it into their baskets to take back to the hive.   You can tell she's been busy.