I just saw my first honey bee in my backyard!

[The Backlash Cometh]

I've lived here for more than ten years and I know we've never had them because I have been looking for them. Mudwasps, paperwasps, yellow jackets a plenty, but no honeybees.

Then, I started putting in some bee attracting plants. Last year the bumblebees started coming, this spring I noticed a green metallic bee for the first time, and today I saw my first honey bee! He looked pretty good and strong, but, unfortunately, by the time I had fetched my camera, he was gone. Unlike the bumblebees which just take their time with each open Maypop flower, the honeybee just flitted off after checking out the buffet.

I hope he's going back to tell the hive what he found.

[bdamomma]

1. and seeing a honeybee just brings out the best when you see them!!

[Leftist Agitator]

2. Good luck, I hope he brings his family. (N/T)

[MuseRider]

3. I saw a bunch of them

just yesterday but did not have anything but my phone camera. I was unable to catch one with it. They were all over my wildflower garden. The Black Eyed Susans especially. I was so excited, they were weighted down with pollen. Their little bodies covered with yellow and they were working over the garden pretty well.

This is something that I discussed with 180 (I miss him so) several years ago, that we had not seen any for a long time. The last few years I might have seen one or two but yesterday the garden was alive with them. I was going to post but it slipped my mind.

:hi: Whatever you are doing keep it up. All of us who are planting for them and keeping it organic will eventually be able to feel really good about our assistance bringing them back.

[The Backlash Cometh]

5. Well, the bee came at a good time.

Something is killing my caterpillars, and I think it's happening at night. I suspect a spider. In the morning I just find bits of caterpillar on the leaves where I spotted them the day before. The size doesn't matter: day old hatchlings or one inch long-wing zebra caterpillars. I suspect a spider because I saw a thread of silk connected to one of the leaves. I also have one black stinkbug on the bush which I can't figure out how to kill without using my hands. Oh, and lizards. But I can't imagine that the lizards would leave caterpillar bits behind.

[Speck Tater]

4. There have been a brazillion of them on my blackberries. (nt)

[The Backlash Cometh]

7. I've seen brazillions of them just fifteen minutes away at a nursery that

is well stocked with plants, but none have ever roamed this far. I figured over-development of their habitat had something to do with it, and also, the area where the nursery is located still has some small farmlands which may have their own bee hives.

[DainBramaged]

6. That is such good news

[LiberalEsto]

8. Elecampane

When our elecampane started blooming last week, that's when the honey bees started coming. Before that, it was all bumblebees, even on the lavender and hyssop, which are usually bee magnets.

May the Force bee with them!

[The Backlash Cometh]

9. I know everybody in my neighborhood thinks I'm nuts.

But, heck, they thought so even before I started to grow a butterfly garden.

To bee, or not to bee.

[zabet]

10. My moon flowers..

really attract them.

[IDemo]

11. pollen coated bee on backyard hollyhock (taken about 2 hrs ago)

[The Backlash Cometh]

12. OH - I'm - so - jealous.

What camera and what setting?

[IDemo]

13. Fuji Finepix S5100, macro, automatic

I'm still trying to get used to it. The poor bee is looking a tad over-exposed to me.

[The Backlash Cometh]

14. If you crop the bottom a bit, I think you'd have a piece of art.

I have a Canon Rebel and I'm having trouble with the macro setting.

[IDemo]

16. Thanks for the complement!

I have enjoyed macro photography since I bought my first camera in '75 (Canon AE1 Program, still like new).

another backyard shot from last summer:

[The Backlash Cometh]

17. Male Tiger Swallowtail?

If you teach me how to post piccies, I'll send you a picture of the most peculiar photo I have, but it isn't of a butterfly.

[IDemo]

18. I use Photobucket

http://photobucket.com/

I can't find out how much storage space they offer for a free account, but it's a fair amount. A 'Pro' account will get you 5GB.

register -> http://photobucket.com/register.php

[TheWraith]

15. You're very lucky. There aren't many wild honeybees in North America.

They're not a native species, and most of the colonies that
escaped captivity died out when they got hit with the varroa
mite. We don't have any honeybees around here, just the
bumblebees and various wasps. 

By the way, that green bee you saw was probably an
Agapostemon, which is a kind of sweat bee, or an Augochlorini.