Beard of Pollen

This bumble bee was quite funny to watch today. He seemed drunk and after a little research, I gather that they do get drunk on nectar. He crawled from bud to bud instead of flying. Earlier, before this image, he was all over the thyme I have at the edge of the garden. It is in bloom with tiny white flowers covering every inch of it. This bee did summersaults as the stem of the thyme gave way, unable to hold his weight. Then he climbed like a monkey back up the stems to get to the next tiny flower. I was really enjoying the bumbling show.

He then crawled over the wood chips to the next flowering plant several yards away. It took him a while, and at this point I was a little worried about him, it seemed like quite a struggle. As this unfolded, I had to work on keeping the dogs away from him (even they thought he was an interesting sight). About a half hour later, this fluffy guy seemed to perk up and started flying from flower to flower. So, at least he recovered for a bit.

Then, he found the blanket flowers that you see him on in this shot... Once on this plant, he proceeded to coat himself in pollen. (Prior to this flower, he appeared to be drinking the nectar.) What you see below his face are the gobs of pollen that he carried away with him. It was covering almost all of his underside before he gave up and crawled down the stem and away into the bushes. At this point, he may not have been able to fly with all that extra weight.(?) Take a closer look at the big drunk.

So, there you have it... About an hour of my day where I mostly watched an intoxicated bee... What is happening to me?? Well, at least I got some pruning done while I enjoyed the show. :)