Bee Speed

Do you remember when the Hellebore flowers began to bloom in February and the bees were sort of groggy and slow moving as they made their rounds? Or when the tree peony beckoned a slow motion buzzer with pollen galore? Those were lazy days of cool temperatures, perfect for taking a nap out in the open… …or tucked inside an iris bloom. My how times have changed. Now it’s rush rush rush, busy busy busy. Mister Bumble (Mr./Ms. Carpenter, thanks Helen) is really going at it on the Scarlet Runner Bean flower on the knot garden teepee. There is some very suggestive hip gyration here not captured adequately by our puritanically minded old camera, the Canon Powershot A 720, if you get my drift. Still in the knot garden, on the lavender laced quatrefoil center this hard working pollen jockey seems to have a pointy protuberance on his hind end. This seems like a good time to tell the story of a lady gardener who, after cleaning up in the shower when the day’s chores were done, began to peruse the garden beds. Wearing a flowing skirt. During the flowering time of the Ajuga repens that lines the steps up to the very same knot garden as seen in the about me sidebar photo. The Ajuga’s blue flowers are absolute bee magnets, and are quite low to the ground. Just about the height of the hem of the aforementioned skirt. Rumor has it that honeybees can sting only once. Personal experience can verify that Bumblebees can sting repeatedly, over and over and over, on delicate ivory skinned thighs, when trapped inside flowing fabric. Just so you know. Forewarned is forearmed. Moving along the long wall that runs behind the main house was this industrious fellow, visiting each of the evening primrose yellow blooms that have spread throughout the forty foot length. The camera toting gardener was following along, trying to get a focused shot as he darted from flower to flower. He must have finally found the flower of his dreams with this one, for the only word that can be used to describe his behaviour towards the pollened center is ravaging. The rate of speed with which the bees are buzzing around here has picked up so much that photos are becoming more and more difficult to snap. Really about the only way to capture these marvelous creatures is when they are sleeping in the early morning light. Even sleeping through a sprinkling provided by the hose wielder giving the newly opening New England Asters a long drink before the heat of the day parches their thirst. Would you like a towel with your shower, sir?
Frances