The Busiest Bee in the Garden.

The warmth has brought out flowers and bees and none is as busy, as the delightful hairy footed flower bees. For the third year running the females are nesting in the blue strawberry pot. It has never grown strawberries but the variety of side entrances seem to make it very attractive to these industrious little bees.

The females are all black with ginger legs, the males gingery with white faces. This year they were very early, slightly too early I think as one of the girls didn’t make it, but they are all doing well now with a bit of competition for nest space. The males have a higher pitched buzz and a very characteristic hover and zoom flight pattern.

 

The early male warming up on my hand and below approaching the violets

Approaching the violets

 

 

 

The very early female who did not make it, but she is about to be the model for some more sketches,so will live on in a way!

They love pulmonaria, and comfrey and approach the flowers with their tongues out, ready to go!

I painted them both for my British Bee set, but I was in the US at the time and had never seen them in action. But I read about their characteristics, their habits, sounds, flying patterns etc  and it was wonderful to catch up with them when came back to the UK.

The two paintings from 2010... time for some more I think. Sketches to come.