Blue boy
Unusually, out of the two hundred or so photos I took today, the first turned out to be my favourite. It’s not that I haven’t posted bees on grape hyacinths before, or Common Mourning Bees, or even Common Bees on … Continued
Day of Mourning
It took me a while this morning to realise that the Honey Bee sized bees noodling around the grape hyacinths weren’t actually Honey Bees at all, but Common Mourning Bees (Melecta albifrons). To be fair, this is about ten days … Continued
Brace position
This is the best year for Common Mourning Bees that I ever remember – the males, at least, of which I have at least four currently patrolling the top garden. I haven’t yet seen a female, but I’m quite sanguine … Continued
The joys of spring
I’m featuring yet another plumpie because the photo reminds me of the joy of spring I felt this morning, when the sun emerged brightly and the invertebrates all came out to play. Interesting Bee of the Day is probably the … Continued
Criminal tendencies
Back in the C19th it was fashionable to believe that you could tell what kind of personality someone had, or how they might behave, by looking at their facial features (physiognomy) and measuring their skull (phrenology). An Italian professor of … Continued
Melecta albifrons
After a brisk morning walk around Croome, R and I spent the afternoon working in the garden. It was warm and sunny – too hot, in fact, for some of the heavy tasks we’d set ourselves – and suddenly there … Continued
