Since it's been sunny for most of these days, I just jump off the bed, go on my daily morning routines, open the greenhouse and muse on my bee hotels. Despite the buzzing they sometimes even do in front of my lobes, they help me quiet my morning thoughts. Watching them go about their task, does just that ...
I took this vlog to share you some of the things that I found out after sitting in front of those several times a day. ' course I prepared a few questions for you to answer below. To view vlog key in morning musings on the password box and click on that blued video box.
Please answer just one question. The first one who gets it right gets a 1% up. Kindly answer just one, thank you.
1. What do the bees in my bee hotels do first thing in the morning?
2. Where do they fly to right after getting out of their rooms made of bamboo holes?
3. What happened on the first day we placed a screen to protect our bee hotels from beaked creatures?
4. How many bees are sleeping over?
5. What did the bees do during the rainy days?
6. What is the real color of these bee's bellies when they've just gotten out of their rooms?
Cute discoveries during those morning musings ...
Some of them don't fly straight to the bee hotel. They stop over on some of the apple leaves on the apple trees in front of the bee hotels or on this conifer tree. Thats when I found out, they were using those scissors look alike mouth to carry not just the larva but also the clay they use to seal those bamboo's holes.
I wonder whether it's cause they got a bit tired so they're recharging this way because I also noticed that they also always pick a sunny spot. One of which the warm sunlight could just peer and hit their wings.
Did you know that they carry larva on those scissors look alike mouths and pollen on what looks like hair on their belly?
They'd go in those hotel rooms, deposit the larva then get out with their butts first, turn around and go back in this time, backwards, butt first and probably shakes those pollen off their hairy belly for the larva to stock on. They'd fly away and get back with the clay to seal the first larva.
They'd fly back and forth doing that and once they're done providing a sealed door of clay for the first larva they'd fly back in for the second one and do things all over again. Yes, they're that diligent! They'd do the same task all sunny day long and still go on even it's past 20:00 these days since the sun's still up till 21:00.
They'd risk their lives sticking their butts out, making themselves an easy prey for the birds to ensure the next generation gets to live and breakthrough those clay the year after.
Last year, a certain bird poked those holes open and emptied the bee hotels so this year, we've decided to put a screen to make those beaked creatures stay away of them. Though the bees had a hard time adjusting to this change, they've filled almost every hole there is in them.
I guess this means, time to buy more of those bee hotels or my morning musings are over. I can't let that happen, specially that I've got plenty of flowering plants that need pollinating, not to mention that there's no sight of honey bees these days around here.
How about you? Got any bee hotel in your garden? No? Why don't you go and get one? Better yet ... make one :)!
