City bees

Just over the front part of our roof is a stand of maple trees that just finished blooming. On the right is a picture of maple pollen stolen from the West Sound Beekeepers Association. I saw bees with little gold pills of the stuff, packed and carried like saddle bags, on both rear legs coming into the hives on sunny days. Imagine an elderly relative in unfortunate stretch pants. I am still trying to get a good picture, but they are fast even when overloaded.

There are lots and lots of good things blooming (or just finished) less than 100m from our house, but here are two that smell particularly fantastic. On the left, a beautiful holly tree in a neighbor's yard. Holly flowers are easy to miss by sight, but your nose will know, and celebrate! A master beekeeper told our class that one of his neighbors welcomed his bees because she thought they helped her get more bright red berries. Let's hope mine feel the same! On the right is wisteria in the yard of a neighbor who is likely to be harder to convince.