Honey Bee on (I think) Coastal Pricklypear (Opuntia littoralis, Cactaceae) - stoned?
This is a Honey Bee (Apis mellifera, Hymenoptera) inside a gorgeous yellow flower of a native "Prickly Pear" (Opuntia) cactus in the Cactaceae plant family - probably the Coastal Pricklypear (Opuntia littoralis). I think we collected a piece of the cactus many years ago in the Santa Monica Mountains, and it's done well in our garden. The flower has an interesting effect on the bees. They act stoned after a minute in the flower, and have to leave and fly around for a while until they come back again - as they always do. I've tried various web searches for this behavior, with no luck so far. (San Marcos Pass, 16 June 2015)
I didn't really have time for photos this morning, but I got a couple while I was waiting for Julie to come down to start collecting our camping stuff for the the Live Oak Music Festival next weekend. Then I went off to town.
Our kids (and grandkids!) don't arrive until 5:00 pm tomorrow, so I probably will have time to post a few photos. Then on Thursday it's off to the line-up at Live Oak! We been going to this great festival for 20+ years.
Honey Bee on (I think) Coastal Pricklypear (Opuntia littoralis, Cactaceae) - stoned?
This is a Honey Bee (Apis mellifera, Hymenoptera) inside a gorgeous yellow flower of a native "Prickly Pear" (Opuntia) cactus in the Cactaceae plant family - probably the Coastal Pricklypear (Opuntia littoralis). I think we collected a piece of the cactus many years ago in the Santa Monica Mountains, and it's done well in our garden. The flower has an interesting effect on the bees. They act stoned after a minute in the flower, and have to leave and fly around for a while until they come back again - as they always do. I've tried various web searches for this behavior, with no luck so far. (San Marcos Pass, 16 June 2015)
I didn't really have time for photos this morning, but I got a couple while I was waiting for Julie to come down to start collecting our camping stuff for the the Live Oak Music Festival next weekend. Then I went off to town.
Our kids (and grandkids!) don't arrive until 5:00 pm tomorrow, so I probably will have time to post a few photos. Then on Thursday it's off to the line-up at Live Oak! We been going to this great festival for 20+ years.