STL DPB ON THE ROAD - BZZZZZ

Hello from Happy Valley, Pennsylvania, the somewhat sardonic name used by locals for the area around the town of State College and Penn State University. My sister is retired from many years in administration and her husband  is a senior member of the psych department. We visited the university arboretum and gardens yesterday. One of their projects is to encourage pollinators of local plant species. This hive is in sort of a glass and wood case, which I gather is opened periodically. It lets bee-phobic people like me get a close up view.            

BZZZZ

It is no wonder that bees are symbols of industry. Countless numbers of them were working the field I've been showing recently. I was puzzled by their activity, though, since I could not distinguish the pistils and stamens I remember from high school biology class.

It turns out that I don't know much about sunflowers other than their association with Mrs. C's home state of Kansas. They are complex. The points of those whorls (arranged in a Fibonacci pattern) are individual mini-flowers that will eventually become heavy with the seeds some people love to munch. They are heliotropes. In their early and middle stages the heads move from east to west in unison to follow the sun. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helianthus_annuus . Some of the many things that city kids don't learn.                   

 

THOUSANDS OF BEES!

We stayed in a B and B in an historic house in Ste. Genevieve. At breakfast Thursday morning the owner noticed this in a blooming red bud tree in the yard. He told us that it was a bee swarm, something I'd never heard of. We learned something. This is part of the reproduction cycle of honey bees. It happens in the spring, when a single colony splits into two or more new colonies. I am quite bee-phobic so I got out the telephoto lens to take this. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swarming_(honey_bee)

This was just inside a fence by the sidewalk and the owner was concerned about neighbors who might be more curious than informed, The local bee person was summoned. He had a box scented with lavender, of all things, which attracts the insects, and used a smoke stick to nudge them off the tree into the target. When we returned in the late afternoon they were gone.

 By the way, we liked the B and B and recommend it. https://www.hertichhouse.com/             

Bzzzzz

This my absolute favorite group from the PrideFest parade. They represented a florist, appropriately enough. The bee in the back of the car and in the picture below is the Queen. And all so happy. Must have lots of honey around.

Photography tip: two things helped make this a better picture. First, fill flash, and I mean a full strobe unit, not a weensy on-camera flash. The picture world be dull without it. Second, a willingness to sit or lie in the street.

TOMORROW: Thursday Arch Series