I saw one! Among the pear blossom!
I tracked her. She moved so fast.
And then I got up close.
And yes! There were lots of them. All over the pear blossom. All over the apple blossom. And busy busy busy in the borage.
I stopped taking pictures. Followed them around. Happy.
The bees are out, on a fine morning. There are more of them in the borage today, but only bumble bees in the blossoming trees.
So I walk around and up to the neighbours’ side of the wall to see whether there’s something that obstructs the bees’ access, to get the bee perspective if I can. I look out and down. Is the washing on the line a problem I wonder?
The blossom’s as close to the bee box as it seems to be from my place.
Yep. I’d feel invited.
To the pear blossom. And to the apple blossom just a bit further away. And they’re all safe. Never been sprayed.
(Some pears and some but not all of the apple trees attract codlin moth and pheromone traps have never been effective. When I prepare pears I often have to cut out the codlin larvae and wash off their frass. And sometimes I have to pick little black bugs off the pear’s leaves, towards the end of the season.)
Will the bees find the blossom? No idea. I can’t see the problem.
And then I notice a bumble bee, on top of the box. It seems to be trying to burrow into a chip in the brick.
As far as I know, bumbles are solitary. But does it smell that lovely bee smell? Want to be nearby? Or is it just looking for somewhere to live that’s close to the beautiful blossom?
Bee-Loved 