Saturday, July 07, 2007

mutualism

Bees....they are worth their weight in gold. I like it when they visit my flowers.

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They are attracted to colors like blues, purples, violets and yellows. They need the nectar and the pollen. They need the protein and the carbohydrates.

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It is very simple, really. The flowers cannot visit each other, so they need the bee to transport their pollen in order to reproduce. Mutualism. Pollination. We depend on it for half of the food we consume...or so it has been estimated. Makes me think we are just a little bit dependent upon the bees. Makes me want to plant more flowers.

11 comments:

Manise said...

Lovely photos. I am very fond of my bees and bumbles. Have you seen the new "pollinator" postage stamps? Very cool- bats, bees, butterflies and hummingbirds in one scene all divided up into 4 different stamps.

judy said...

I haven't seen a homey bee, naturally, in a couple years. Frightening.

Anonymous said...

Here in Southeastern VA I have a white flowered Crape Myrtle tree that is loaded with pollinators every morning. I see honey bees, bumble bees, butterflies and various other flying critters feasting on it daily. It's heaviest in the morning though, you can hear the whole tree buzzing =)

They also really love my Penstemon Barbatus. I have Bee Balm but haven't really noticed them getting much attention.

I live in a pretty urbanized area, so seeing this many bees does make me happy and gives me hope that all is not lost. Hubby fusses about them a bit, but he doesn't really get how important they are to our very survival. To him they are just stinging insects.

cyndy said...

Manise- I've not yet seen those stamps, so thank you for the heads up on them!

Judy- oh dear, that is alarming that you haven't seen any. The honey bees around here vary in number from year to year.

Marvie- Hurrah! That is very good news! Those Crape Myrtle do well south of the Mason-Dixon..and I hear tell that they are growing them up here in zone 5 with some success! It is nice to know what attracts them..so thank you for the notation.

Cathy said...

I love watching the bees!

Dawn said...

Any excuse will do for planting more flowers! ..... and an excellent choice is that!

Lynn said...

Lovely photos! I just discovered your blog via the Spinning Wheel ring - now you're on my must-read list!

cyndy said...

Thanks for stopping by Lynn, glad you enjoyed the riverrim!

Ernest said...

I am an absolute bee freak. Love 'em. Can't get enough of them. They need more than flowers, which bloom at odd, randomish times. They need stuff like maples and clover which provide consistent food, then large areas properly covered in dandelions and not hosed down with pesticides. They go from one blooming thing in April to another in May, and so forth and so on until about the end of August when the honey flow is over and they are prepared for the winter. They also consume large quantities of pollen, which God has seen fit to provide for them in the form of flowers. Would that I had been provided with such a bounty in such a beautiful bowl.


If flowers had dirty magazines, they would be full of pictures of bees in flight.

Fiberjoy said...

I recently read a more reassuring article about CCD. Apparently it is affecting only the commercial bee colonies, not organic.

Over the years the commercial growers have increased the cell size which increases the size of the bee, and amount of accummalated honey in the never ending quest of greed. As a result the larger cells don't inhibit pests so then the commercial grower sprays the hives with pesticides. CRAZYNESS.

Organic beekeepers have not experienced collasped colonies.

Anonymous said...

There is an article in a recent Guidepost magazine (July 07 maybe?) which would seem to indicate that at least some hobbyists are being affected also - beekeeper who lost several hives, and who has chosen to find non-pesticide methods to combat the mite infestations which killed off her hives.

I'm glad to read that some folks are still seeing bees; I haven't seen any this year except for a few bumblebees, and the occasional wasp. And I have several varieties of flowers planted around my yard (with fingers crossed that the deer don't decide to make a meal of them).

Jean Marie

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