Spot the Pollinator: Honey Bees

With the hot summer weather many things in my garden are starting to bolt. One positive of my plants going to flower is seed saving. Another is all the bees that the flowers are attracting to my garden, and I need them to pollinate my summer squash, tomatoes and cucumbers. But on a purely happiness level, seeing the bees makes me smile.

I'm a little bit obsessed with bees, and when I see them I have to stop and take a photo of them. My kids and husband are getting a little bit tired of waiting for me to get the perfect shot, which sometimes is a challenge armed with just my iPhone.

I saw the bumble bee and honey bee when we were at Granville Island
this weekend. In fact, there were so many bees here that the air was buzzing. 

I managed to get a second good capture as the bumble bee flew away.

This honey bee was pollinating my cucumbers.

Cilantro bolts very quickly, but it is lovely when it flowers. They are
in the same bed as my zucchinis and bringing the bees like crazy. The
bee is difficult to see in the top middle of the photo. 

I am linking up with The Green Bean Chronicles who is hosting the Spot the Pollinator segment. Pop on over and visit her.







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Spot the Pollinator

Everyone loves ladybugs, not only because they are so cute with their red with black spots, but because they are so beneficial for the garden. Their appearance belies the fact that they are predators, gobbling up insects that chomp on our plants. 

There are other garden predators that eat "bad" bugs in our garden that perhaps do not have as good a reputation as the ladybug because they are not as cute, like wasps. Soldier beetles, such as the one pictured below, are rather scary looking when one comes upon them in the garden, with their long body and antennae. These beetles, however, are fierce hunters of insects like aphids that like to have a feast on new garden growth. 

The bonus of garden predator insects is that they are accidental pollinators as well. As they climb all over flowering plants the pollen can stick to them. This can clearly be seen in the photo below. This soldier beetle was one of many on my flowering carrots. I hope this means that I will have lots of seeds to save come the end of the season.

I am linking up with The Green Bean Chronicles who is hosting the Spot the Pollinator segment. Pop on over and visit her.

Spot the Pollinator

We see these butterflies often in the summer, and I notice that many people mistakenly refer to them as monarchs when they see them from a distance. While we may get a few western monarchs here in British Columbia, these are definitely not. The "tail" of the butterfly marks it as a swallowtail butterfly, and this one is a fairly common one here, the tiger swallowtail butterfly.

This particular butterfly enjoyed drinking nectar from my flowers for some time. We were able to get quite close to this one, and were able to watch it elongate its proboscis into flowers several times. It was absolutely fascinating.

I am linking up with The Green Bean Chronicles who is hosting the Spot the Pollinator segment. Pop on over and visit her.

Spot the Pollinator

Everyone is hearing about the importance of pollinators to the world's food systems in the media these days, and the threats to their existence. Most people think about honey bees when they hear pollinators, but there are many other insects who contribute to the pollination of flowers. Along with honey bees, there are hundreds of bees native to North America who carry out the important task of pollination. My lawn is full of digger bees and I am trying to help nurture some mason bees in my backyard. But other insects carry out the act of pollination as well, such as flies, butterflies, moths and beetles.

Are Wasps Pollinators?

One pollinator that most people are unhappy to see are wasps. Yes, they can be aggressive, particularly as the summer comes to an end, when they are grumpy and their food supplies begin to dwindle. Until I spent more time in gardens observing the insects that visit and populate the plants I didn't realize that wasps visit flowers. They may accidentally pollinate when they are hunting their prey in flowers, but it turns out they also drink nectar!

But Aren't Wasps The "Bad Guys"?

I have long been terrified of wasps. I was stung repeatedly, in fact dozens of times at once, when I was a young child and inadvertently disturbed a large wasp nest. As I have become more passionate about organic gardening, however, I have come to appreciate the wasp. The mere sight of them can cause people to scream and run away. But they are an important part of the ecosystem. They are carnivores who hunt for pest insects that may eat our plants. They are everywhere, and as the summer wears on their numbers increase, so if you can't beat them, join them, so to speak. I have even been able to get close enough to some to take their photos, something that I consider quite brave because of wasps' renowned aggression.

Of course I still get frustrated with wasps in the dog days of summer when they swarm around us as we eat our dinner outside. But I have a new appreciation of this much maligned insect.

Spot The Pollinator 

My spot the pollinator photo is a bald faced hornet, taken on my raspberries.

I am linking up with The Green Bean Chronicles who is hosting the Spot the Pollinator segment. Pop on over and visit her.