Re: Lavenders and bees

Hello Anthony,

  That was an interesting observation about honey vs bumble bees.

  I hadn't paid much attention to what kind of bees it was
that were buzzing all over the lavender last month,
except to recall that the number/density of the bees seemed 
too great for them to be all bumbles (we don't have that many
bumbles in our garden).

   Anyway, after reading your mail, I went outside to check.
Most of the hedge has finished blooming, but a couple of
plants shaded by a ceanothus still had viable flowers. I 
observed 2 bees that were clearly bumbles (hairy black, with
round hairy red-spotted abdominal sections) but also several
that seemed (to my admittedly unscientific eye) to be honey bees
(fast-moving, relatively long, slender non-hairy abdominal sections).

   I managed to get a picture of one on the lavender:
      http://www.geocities.com/ikuffel/ID/honeybee1.jpg

Sorry it's not a super-clear photo - that darned bee
just would not cooperate! But perhaps someone more bee-savvy
than I can tell if it is indeed a honey bee?

   If so, perhaps our California honey bees are not as 
picky as the English ones? Or perhaps your garden
simply has other flowers that they much prefer.


Cheers,

-- Irene.
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