Tag Archives: Honey Bee

Being in the Center or on the Edge

21 Thursday Jan 2021

Posted by in Back Yard Garden, Backyard Garden, Bumblebee, Canon, Dwarf Sungold Sunflower, Garden, Home Garden, Honey Bee, Sunflower, Sunflowers, Sungold flower

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The Bumblebee in the first picture is having a good time on the peripheral of the Dwarf Sungold Sunflower. He is feasting on the nectar as he makes his way around the flower. The Honey bee in the second picture is planted in the center of sunflower for his sweet feast. Which bee is smarter in its position in the flower? I’m not sure if there is a sweeter part of the flower between the center and the petals.

The Honeybee do produce more honey than the Bumblebee. The Bumblebee is good at using their bigger bodies to vibrate the flowers until they release pollen. Releasing the pollen helps plants produce more fruit.

Is it better to be closer to the edge to shake things up compared to being in the center where it may be safer? In the case of the bees, it seems that each position is important.

It is usually more comfortable to play it safe. I like to look at the ocean for the view, but I do not like to spend a lot of time at beaches. When we went to Hawaii, we did visit the beach but did not lay out on the sand. When we were in Costa Rica, we chose to be in the 4 foot deep spacious swimming pool over going to the beach in the resort. In our area, recently there have been sad incidents where people have been hit by waves on the beach and disappeared into the ocean. While these incidents can be rare, I am pretty content not spending a lot of time on the beach.

Conversely, there are times it is advantageous to take a risk and try something new. In our pandemic life, we tried playing family games with participants in 3 different locations. We played 3 different online games for the first time in a Zoom meeting. It was fun to learn the games and interact with each other.

Doing this blog and sharing my photographs is something I never thought I would do. I keep learning new things as I continue to shoot and examine my pictures. I appreciate all those who take a little time to look at my blog. Taking risks continuously teaches me new lessons.

Lastly, there is a time to play it safe, and there is a time to take a risk. Both actions are important to do. I’m learning that I need to do both and learn when I should take a risk and when to play it safe.

The Bees are doing the same thing by being in the center or on the edge. It’s all good!

Photos give valuable lessons.

 

Honey Bee Seeking Sweet Lavender

18 Sunday Oct 2020

Posted by in Backyard Garden, Bee, Garden, Home Garden, Honey Bee, Lavender

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Our neighborhood Honey Bee was busy getting nectar for her hive and pollinating our Lavender Plant. It is pretty fascinating examining the flight of the honey bee. The eyes of the bee are pretty big. It’s wings seem so thin yet are powerful for the fast flights.

I get energized sitting in my backyard to find good shots of the 3 B’s — Bees, Butterflies and Birds (basically hummingbirds). I am learning patience as I sit in my chair looking out for these buddies who are also getting to know me. They are trying to figure out if they can trust me. Unfortunately, my big lens is intimidating to the hummingbirds. I notice the hummingbirds come more frequently if I do not have the big camera lens around my neck.

I am trying to learn how to gain the trust of the hummingbirds. I try to be still when they fly close to me. I am trying to wear colors which will not be offensive to them. I watch my actions so not to scare them away.

This is also a lesson in life. Do our actions allow for people to trust us? I am trying to attract these critters to my garden and me, so I can shoot photos. Can we seek to show our integrity and genuine concern to others, so they will feel comfortable to seek help and advice for us? Some may think it is better to not be involved in other people’s lives. People are too much work. It is easier to just have a small pod of people. Yes we can only see a small pod of people of the pandemic. In reality our sphere should not just be limited to our pandemic pod.  But our sphere can expand if we are interested in helping people.

Just as I do not want to scare off the bees, butterflies and hummingbirds, I also do not want to scare off people in my life. Just as the bee is attracted to the lavender for sweetness, can we show “sweetness” to people during these pandemic times?

Photos teach us about sweetness!