Filed under: bees, insects | Tags: b-boy, bees, dance, entomology, insects, nature, silly
since this blog is all about bees….
Filed under: animals, bees, insects, nature, photography | Tags: animals, bees, entomology, flowers, gardens, insects, nature, photography
today’s bees are very smalllll.
to illustrate how small these bees are i have taken a shot with a ball point pen next to the flower for reference.
see? smallll.
here it alights in the shade of a flower:
and here it says, …”GET ‘ER DONE!”
i think it is a lasioglossum, but buzzybeegirl will probably have to correct me on that.
Filed under: animals, bees, insects, nature, wildlife | Tags: animals, bees, entomology, insects, ligustica, meliflura, nature, photography, wildlife
bees. there was some heated debate here at the blog regarding these bees. and by heated….i mean 2 to 3 comments. ligustica….or a ligustica meliflura hybrid? one is safe, one deadly.
but the bees are pretty. and i have learned that the later in the day you catch them, the bigger their pollen sacks are. ooh. . . that sounds weird.
if you’re interested in learning more about bees, please visit buzzy’s site.
and if you’re interested in the conservation of bees, please understand that what you eat, where you buy, etc. all have an impact on our critters, but more importantly…the conservation of our critters has an impact on us.
Filed under: insects, nature | Tags: cilantro, entomology, fire pit, honey, insects, nature, stars, wooden nickel
tonight’s writing challenge involves these tags: fire pit, honey, wooden nickel, cilantro, stars
i am a fire pit. bright and welcoming under the late night stars. in the morning kind of a pile of ashes.
black light party time is coming. fire pit season is on it’s way. we’ll meet at my house after dark, set up the lights, pop open some beers and wait for the night life to fly in. transparent wings and round, protruding eyes. i can’t wait!
entomologist...with beers
i’ll be tired the mornings after, but wake up while at work and rush home to photograph the dogs and the resident bees. (mind you, these aren’t honey bees. they’re native bees. they won’t kill me, i swear!)
cinnamon flavored bug
for snacks i’ll make a salad with black beans, corn, cumin, cilantro, balsamic vinigar and red onions. . . but. . . bella and buzzy will eat pentatomid bugs instead.
save up your wooden nickels and you can buy into the fun. primordial night life. flying things in your hair. pickles herding beetles.
(tags i’m leaving…at your convenience: accidents, usb, being john malkovich)
Filed under: animals, bees, insects, nature | Tags: animals, bees, biology, entomology, insects, life, nature, wildlife
well, hello there! it’s been a few days since i posted…and way too long since i posted about me bees. it started with hundreds of agapostemons on 8/18/08. it was and exciting discovery. we’ve monitored the lovely green metallic bees as their numbers decreased. on from 10/31 to 11/3 there was a solitary bee. just hanging on. all alone. sleeping the nights away.
on 11/4 i went to check on him after the election coverage had died down. he was gone. no more bees. but here was this guy:
a syrphid. not a bee, but a fly. taken with a canon 20d, but without a macro...i need a macro!
a syrphid. a bee mimic. at first i was peeved. had he eaten my bee!? no. had he been keeping his eye on this hot piece of property? of all the millions of tree stems and branches in my back yard…he moved onto my bee branch? why?
i’m sad the agapostemons are gone. they were pretty and having the aggragation was such a rare treat. i’ll never see something like it again…
winter is coming. i’ll miss all the bee action. then spring will arrive and i will have to protect myself from the giant beetles all over again….
i guess i need a rest from all the heavy insect activity.
i’ll post again tomorrow. bye!
Filed under: animals, insects, nature, wildlife | Tags: animals, bugs, entomology, insects, nature, walking stick, wildlife
oooh. rare sighting! i give snaps to my co-volunteer l. for spotting this very special critter.
1. they’re hard to see. 2. there aren’t scads of them swarming about like bees.
cool thing about this guy: when l. found him she said that they were black in the midwest, where she’s from. wow….they’re reddish where i come form and they’re a dusty brown here. what wondrous variety.
so the bunch of us got to chatting about walking stick behavior. here’s the cool thing someone mentioned…when the wind picks up and the tree sways…the walking stick insect feigns a sway as well.
so check it: the bug is like, “dude, the tree is swaying….i have to sway to look like a tree….if i don’t sway…well, then i’ll look like a bug on a tree.”
please note: i’m NOT scared of these bugs. bugs i am not scared of: walking sticks, bees, praying mantis, cactus beetles, leaf legged bugs, lady bugs, scarabs, moths, butterflies, dragonflies.
insects that make me uncomfortable, but that i respect: ants, grasshoppers, millipedes, caterpillars, flies,
insects that scare me, yo!: earwigs, fleas, ticks, centipedes, roaches and the like, spiders (ack!) mosquitos, termites, wasps, crickets!
Filed under: dogs | Tags: agility, buts, catapillar, dogs, entomology, insects, nature, photography, wildlife
welcome sports fans! as many of you know, cody bear and i have taken up the fun dog sport of AGILITY! we’re both addicted!
as you also know, i volunteer each saturday at a local wildlife center. oh my. photoanimal and i found a spunky lil’ C-pillar, yo!
he’s a NATURAL at agility:
catapillar agility
the jump
clean obsticle my friend!
now, for those of you who don’t care about agility, but do like insects, here are some c-pillar pix:
gorgeous!
Filed under: insects, nature | Tags: bugs, entomology, insects, moths, nature, photography
here is another moth from our blacklighting adventure. a tiger moth! grrr.
pretty, eh?
today, i am going to focus on nature and my dogs and friends. this will keep me from getting aggravated about politics.
…i hope….
Filed under: beetles, insects, nature, photography, wildlife | Tags: animals, beetles, bugs, entomology, green, insects, nature, photography, wildlife
so by now you know when i show an insect it is because i want you to see how cool it is. i’m not trying to gross anyone out. buzzybeegirl, r and i find some of the more interesting, lesser known bugs and try to get some good shots.
the truth is, sunday night we saw many beautiful things while buglighting. very few creepy things. mostly pretty.
so, here is the 11 lined beetle. (i have been told that’s what it is but i sometimes suspect the brainiees make stuff up to make me look silly on my blog. JUST KIDDING!)
also, just so you know how i get creeped out by bugs, as well:
if the insect is outside i grab my camera, but if the bug is in my house…..i grab my suitcase and the car keys.
Filed under: cooking, food, friends, insects | Tags: baking, cake, chocolate, cooking, entomology, food, friends, insects, nature
welcome to wilderness baking with dr. r. and buzzybeegirl.
tonight….chocolate cake with a mantis garnish! we’re about an hour outside of town in a national forest reputed for its abundant insect and bird life!
we’re baking in the middle of a torrential downpour of rain! this will definitely add to the flavor:
buzzy, sopping wet, has her eggs, her cake mix, her vegetable oil…
and dr. r. will line his dutch oven with aluminum foil, pour in the cake batter and place on the hot coals.
he will place hot coals above the oven, as well as sitting it on top of the fire. for best results, sheild the irritating, persistant rain from the coals by placing aluminum baking table over the fire.
while cake is baking, grab camera and begin shooting scads of pictures of native insect life.
the rain has stopped right before the cake is done!
so moist and chocolatey! even the praying mantis can’t get enough!
this is extreme baking every one!!!
now…back to tossing hoju’s ball into the mud….
