Lades o'treasure

The line is from Tam O'Shanter

As bees flee hame wi' lades o' treasure,
The minutes wing'd their way wi' pleasure:
Kings may be blest, but Tam was glorious.
O'er a' the ills o' life victorious!

but the picture is from Cathleen's bee hive this afternoon which I last blipped on a similarly lovely sunny day last September.

Today's beautiful early spring sunshine was encouraging the bees to gather lots of willow pollen (there are willows just along from the hive) and when she was at the hive she saw lots of the bees coming back with full pollen sacs, yellow in the sunshine.

I very carefully approached to see if I could get a picture of one without being stung, but fortunatley the bees were far too focussed on their work to bother about me.

I was lucky to catch this one on the way back in, fully laden and with a dusting of pollen on its back too.