I had a bunch of photos I had taken, but never got on the blog. Since I'm stuck inside I figured I'd post those. The above is a bee that I had never seen before. It is totally black except for two yellow stripes, one on either side of its hind end, right near the tip. It loves the corn pollen as you can see. It helped pollinate the squash below it while the corn was putting out pollen, but afterwards it disappeared. Anyone know what kind of bee it is?
And speaking of corn. I'm sure it was saying, "Help save me before the murdering gardener chops me up and buries me in the compost."
I might point out I did not plant a beet here. I was planting beets on the other side of the brick path. I must have dropped a seed and it washed over here. Tenacious isn't it?
I don't see many of these. The soil was totally devoid of these when it was brought in. It will be a few years before I dig multiple up with every shovelful. My compost used to crawl with them. I really miss them, but I suppose the worms attract mice, and I don't miss the mice.
A typical summer lunch being made.
That beet is the image of tenacity.
ReplyDeleteFun mix of photos.
Lunch is nice, is it pizza on hot pan waiting for sauce?
ReplyDeleteA Google search for black bees brings up these images:
ReplyDeletehttp://tinyurl.com/4x9k8lf
Carpenter bee? Black honey bee? It looks like there are quite a few black ones.
I saw a bee like that for the first time this year too...it was trying to kill a dragonfly..bad little bee
ReplyDeleteI would have guessed that your black bee was a black soldier fly, but they don't have mouthparts and don't eat. Their larvae are great for decomposing compost and put out a pheromone that repels houseflies.
ReplyDeleteCan't figure out what it is that you're having for lunch. A tortilla with basil? An omelet with basil?
Oh your lunch looks so good and I really like the pictures!
ReplyDeleteWe have more worm in winter than summer. Have a nice trip!
ReplyDeleteThat's a very nice volunteer you have there.
ReplyDeleteI've seen few black bees in my garden, I also have some kind of black beetles flying around.