Tag Archives: Yellow-faced Bumblebee

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It's fascinating to actually see the blur of the wings of this Yellow-faced Bumblebee gathering pollen. Rozanne Rapozo caught magic!

Bumblebees beat their wings about 200 times per second. Perhaps the wings beat a bit slower while this beauty is gathering her pollen and in the process pollinating this flower.

Thanks to Rozanne for allowing me to share her photo with you here.

There's a big fogbank over the ocean and along some coastal bluffs. The wind really picked up again this afternoon. It's in the mid-70s at Rick's and my place in Anchor Bay.

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The most common bumblebee seen here is the hard-working Yellow-faced Bumblebee, Bombus vosnesenskii. Judith Fisher saw one of these important pollinators gathering pollen on Lupine at Gualala Point Regional Park.

Judith’s photo shows that the Yellow-faced Bumblebee has a nice packet of orange pollen in one of her corbiculae,  aka pollen basket, which are grooves in her hind legs. Inside the corbiculae are specialized branched hairs called scopae.

I wondered which flowers provided her with orange pollen. The most likely suspects are the Lupine Judith observed the bumblebee feeding on, an obvious clue. Also California Poppies, which are blooming in abundance, offer orange pollen to our native pollinators.

It’s interesting and fun to know that the color of the pollen varies from flower to flower. Black pollen is rare, but I read Beekeepers always know when Oriental poppies are in flower, because homecoming bees are dusted with black pollen.

Thanks to Judith for allowing me to share her photo with you here.

It's sunny and warm here today. Lots of visitors here, escaping the inland heat!

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Connie King wrote, “I thought you might enjoy seeing this shot of pollen-laden bees feasting on a Matijilla Poppy from our yard today. Can you believe those bright yellow thighs!?! Or maybe that’s what the ‘bees knees’ is all about.”

I checked with entomologist Mary Lou Flint. She wrote, “Definitely Honey Bees. Nice shot of their well-filled pollen baskets! It’s amazing how much pollen, and nectar, they can carry in their ‘saddle bags,’ apparently up to 30% of their weight.”

Honey Bees are not native here but they are used to pollinate many crops. As several people on the Mendonoma Coast have hives of these bees, they are often seen in our gardens, feeding on flowers. I am also seeing them at the small waterfall in our courtyard. They are coming for water!

Here is one of our native bees, a Yellow-faced Bumblebee, photographed by Paul Brewer.

Thanks to Connie and Paul for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

Good news! Several Monarch Butterflies were seen today, one in Timber Cove and another in Gualala. Fingers crossed that we see many more in the days and weeks ahead. Today is a spectacular day of blue skies and warm temps. The fog is AWOL and the air is clear from Saturday's wonderful rain.

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Kathryn Arnold and Michael Kleeman sent in a fascinating video of three Yellow-faced Bumblebees. She wrote, “Michael and I came across some bees behaving mysteriously. There is one large bee and two smaller ones. They appear to be the same species. Are the two smaller ones attacking the larger one? Trying to mate? Hitching a ride? Thanks for helping us solve the mystery!”

I sent Kathryn’s video to Peter Baye and he shared it with entomologist Will Ericson. Peter wrote, “That’s was a Bombus vosnesenskii – Yellow-faced Bumblebee - queen copulating with two males. Will said he’d never seen the actual act before!”

Here's the video:

Thanks to Kathryn for allowing me to share her photo and video with you here.

Cloudy and cool-ish today, quite nice for a walk.

Spring doesn't know...

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There's something about Bumblebees that makes me smile. It could be the unlikely fact that they can actually fly, or the sounds they make as they travel from blossom to blossom, or the fact they are important pollinators.

The Yellow-faced Bumblebee is a slow moving creature. It's known as the summer bee. It is a California native but it is also found in Oregon and Washington, the two states to our north. They need untilled land for their nests and native plants on which to feed. In turn they will pollinate food crops such as cherry tomatoes, watermelons and sunflowers.

Here you will see one feeding on a hydrangea blossom in my garden. You go, mighty Bumblebee!