February Sting. Honeybee on Crocus, Canon Pond, Venlo, The Netherlands
9 C and it's beginning to be Bee Weather. Crocuses on our sloping lawn down to the Meuse River. But as I set out for an amble I saw no insects. Making my way back I visited the Beehives at the Canon-Pond to see what activity there might be. Only one of the hives appeared to be alive after the fearfully cold weather we've been having. I watched for a while as Olymp was looking for a good vantage point.
Inadvertently a Bee was caught between my trousered leg and a sock. Sting. Not the yelping kind but a mere superficial hardly painful prick through that thick sock. Indeed, I picked her up off it and the stinger seemed to be intact. So I carefully carried her to her hive's landing plank and she scurried in.
About 100 metres away from the hives is a nice patch of Crocuses, and that's where our wee creatures were foraging. Perhaps the 400 metres to our own flowers are too far in this chilly - but halfway sunny - weather.
In Olymp's foto Bee is collecting pollen. See the yellow stamens, and the beautifully shaped orange pistil.
February Sting. Honeybee on Crocus, Canon Pond, Venlo, The Netherlands
9 C and it's beginning to be Bee Weather. Crocuses on our sloping lawn down to the Meuse River. But as I set out for an amble I saw no insects. Making my way back I visited the Beehives at the Canon-Pond to see what activity there might be. Only one of the hives appeared to be alive after the fearfully cold weather we've been having. I watched for a while as Olymp was looking for a good vantage point.
Inadvertently a Bee was caught between my trousered leg and a sock. Sting. Not the yelping kind but a mere superficial hardly painful prick through that thick sock. Indeed, I picked her up off it and the stinger seemed to be intact. So I carefully carried her to her hive's landing plank and she scurried in.
About 100 metres away from the hives is a nice patch of Crocuses, and that's where our wee creatures were foraging. Perhaps the 400 metres to our own flowers are too far in this chilly - but halfway sunny - weather.
In Olymp's foto Bee is collecting pollen. See the yellow stamens, and the beautifully shaped orange pistil.