FLOWER FRIDAY AND A LEAFCUTTER BEE

You may remember that I blipped the Allium Fistulosum on 19th June and I have been waiting for the flower to open so that I could Blip it on Flower Friday.  When I went round to the greenhouse, quite early, Mr. HCB said that he was going to cut the flowerheads off, but then remembered I needed to Blip them first - he is so considerate!

He cut one of the heads off for me and I brought it indoors and set it up to take a shot of the complete flower, but then decided that I rather liked just the stamens with the water droplets - shame it’s not Tiny Tuesday!

When our friends came yesterday, we noticed a bee flying around.  It looked as if it had something green on its back and it was going down between the paving slabs on our patio, so it was quite interesting to watch.  However, having been bitten or stung recently, I wasn’t that keen on it being near me, but our friends didn’t seem fazed so we just carried on chatting, with me keeping a watchful eye on the bee - and had a great time with them.

We saw the bee again this morning so I brought out my Canon bridge camera, and zoomed in to where it appeared to be going in and coming out and got the shot that I have put in as an extra.

I Googled it and Mr. HCB found his trusty book “Complete British Wildlife” and between us we discovered that it was a solitary bee known as a Leafcutter Bee.  According to the Honeybee Conservancy website: 

“The Leafcutter Bee is a productive pollinator for summer gardens and flowers - all leafcutter bees are solitary meaning each female is a queen who does all of the chores. She can’t gather pollen/nectar, lay eggs, cut holes in leaves for her nest, AND defend her hole… so she doesn’t and therefore is not aggressive. The leafcutter bee is extremely gentle and allows you to confidently get inches from her nesting hole without fear of being stung.  The leafcutter bee seals each egg with cut leaf bits. If she can’t find the right type of leaf (like the non-fibrous rose or lilac leaf) to cut and carry in her legs to the nest, she will set up home elsewhere.”  We do have lots of roses, so obviously she is quite happy in our garden.

It was fascinating to watch this bee going backwards and forwards - always bringing back a leaf and going down into the hole.  Something else we have learned today - which reminded me of when I used to tell our boys that they could learn something every day of their lives. 

Hope everyone has a great weekend - looks as if it is going to be another hot one!

“The capacity to learn
     is a GIFT;
the ability to learn
     is a SKILL;
the willingness to learn
     is a CHOICE.”
Brian Herbert

P.S.  Despite doing all that dusting and housework, we sat in the garden with our friends, so they didn't see the results of my labours - ah well, that's the dusting done for the summer! ;-)