When I returned from China this weekend I found that my trees were full of blossoms. The trees were also full of Busy Bees who were pollinating the blossoms.

Since I have had a busy day, I will just share some pictures of the Busy Bees with you tonight.

The pictures were taken of my Black Locust or Robinia pseudoacacia tree that grows in my backyard. If you look closely in this picture you can see a bee in the center.

These pictures also remind me of a post, Home to Spring, that I wrote two years after coming home from a trip to Seoul. There is also a picture in the post of insects on this same tree.

Here is a closer look at one of the busy bees that is pollinating the blossoms. You can see some of the details in the wings.

All of the pictures in this post were taken from at least six feet away, so not as much detail as I would like to have.

Here you can see the proboscis of the bee buried in a blossom.

This picture did not come out as well, but it is the only one where I have a view of the bee from the top. You can see the outstretched wings and their size relative to the body of the bee. I sometimes wonder how these bees can fly. The bodies are so plump compared to the small wings.

In this picture you can also see some of the seed pods that are the end result of this pollination time period. They are still hanging on the tree from last fall.

Another thing that Bees + Blossoms =

I saved the best closeup picture for the last. Here you can definitely see some detail of the bee, especially the hairy body. The hairs help in collecting pollen from the blossoms. You can also see some of the wing detail.

I am not sure exactly what species of bees these are. Perhaps one of my entomologist friends can identify them for me.

Here are a few other posts that I have written about bees:

Bees and Blossoms

More Bees and Blossoms

Bumblebees

Birds and Bees

I hope that you enjoyed these pictures of Busy Bees.

Steven