Honeybee On A Ozark Sundrop Flower

Honeybee On A Ozark Sundrop Flower




This series of photographs is of a Honeybee working on this Ozark Sundrop Flower!



There was more photographs to this series then I showed here. This Ozark Sundrop (Ozark Sundrop is not the scientific name by the way), is one of several plants of this species we had growing in 2014. This Ozark Sundrop was growing in our driveway! This was not even part of the flower bed, though several species of flowers wanted to grow in this rocky, dry nasty soil so I let them! Who am I to argue with something that wants to live so badly.....



The Ozark Sundrop is in the Primrose family and has a striking yellow bloom that really stand out! Guy and I were speaking of this flower this morning and think we got this four or five years ago from perhaps bird droppings?? We are just not sure how we got this Ozark Sundrop growing here?

In the front in this nasty, rocky soil the Ozark Sundrop grows short like a bush. Somehow (birds?), we got this in the back flower bed in which this Ozark Sundrop grew taller then our six foot dog fence and wide!! Fighting for the sun in the flower bed which the soil is better taken care of. That larger Ozark Sundrop spread rapidly!! I cut the lower branches off, and pulled out the plants that grew from the roots. I also dead headed the blooms that rapidly produced seed pods to control the spread of the Ozark Sundrop in this location.



As you can see from my photographs the honeybee is heavy with yellow, sticky pollen! So much of this yellow sticky pollen that the honeybee at times was under stress when trying to fly. The photograph above shows how much pollen was on this honeybee.



You can see in the photographs how well this Ozark Sundrop flowers! Many pollinators are attracted to this bright yellow flower blooms! Unlike other flower blooms that pollen is light and can be carried by wind, us who have allergies know of this all to well! The Ozark Sundrops pollen just seams to heavy to be carried by the wind...... I dont seam to sneeze like crazy around the Ozark Sundrop blooms anyways....



The Honeybee sure did not feel it had to much pollen on it.... the honeybee kept coming back!



You can in the photographs while the Honeybee is in flight the Honeybee has a bit of this pollen on it.











Then back to the bloom the honeybee goes!



The Honeybee I did watch for a time as well as photographing the Honeybee's behavior. The Honeybee to me appeared to be to heavy to fly..... though I am not a Honeybee so....







The Honeybee kept going back to the Ozark Sundrop flower !



The Honeybee in the above shot flew to another bloom so I figured I had enough photograph of this happening and went on to another happening here in our garden. Our garden can keep me busy for hours just all the activity going on here!

Thank you for coming by and checking out my photographs I take in my part of the High Desert of Oregon, and / or reading my observations I write along with my photography.

Honeybee Arrival In Jefferson County Oregon

Honeybee Arrival In Jefferson County Oregon




This is a typical bigger Honeybee operation that goes on in agricultural areas such as ours. These Honeybee's arrive by train. This area is a holding lot. Much like a cattle holding lot, however these are Honeybee's. You will not find this quantity of hives in someones backyard!



I do not advice anyone who is allergic to these insects to do such a thing as I did as far as visiting this holding lot.

First I called up and spoke to the scientist who is, was (?) doing a Honeybee study at this location. Then calling up the land owner to ask for access to their property. Then of course walking on over to the location. I would have loved to be a onlooker when getting these photographs haha!!

Keeping in mind, smoke can be a good thing!! Lighting up a cigarette kept the stings down to just one. Keeping in mind these Honeybee's are not wild per say, however they just arrived at this location. Tired, thirsty and cranky!



Somehow as I picked out the photographs to show you the photographs copied themselves so the photographs are a mess if you go to the album to look around!





These hives get shipped to different farms around our town where this is all located. If you happen to be walking down one of these farm roads, or even driving by with your window rolled down, well you may just get to meet some Honeybee's personal like!

Carrot seed is huge in our area. Someone has to grow it for your favorite garden store to sale to you, right?

We are known for many other crops, however the carrot seed is a big one around here where the Honeybee's help is priceless! Can you imagine hand pollinating something like the carrot seed!?



I also walked over to where the Honeybee's were getting their drinks at. Any insect who has traveled pretty much in any manor is going to be thirsty! I am one who will buy insects to have them shipped here to home. Insects such as ladybugs,praying mantises, some others. The last shippment of ladybugs arrives half dead. So, I stopped buying from that business. If you know of anyone else with a better live arrival rate, and better customer service, can you let me know? We are in Oregon.



I was much more comfortable at this location. The water is not where the Honeybee's live so they are much more docile!! No reason to protect something that is supposed to be for everyone.....



I may have even shown these photographs before?? I recall being at another location that I have permission being at and WALLA Honeybee's were drinking at that spot too. Not sure why I was surprised? Perhaps I was surprised for that other spot was really just a big mud puddle! A mud puddle made by farm equipment and pick up trucks.





This to is one reason why our garden just hums with the sound of Honeybee's as well. Our town is not huge and this holding lot is not a far walk. Honeybee's are supposed to like to stay and work one kind of flower, however we have a big infatuation to our garden when the Honeybee's show up!

I also notice the Honeybee's that come to our ponds, garden are sickly. Because of people using these killer chemicals? We know the Honeybee's come to our garden so they should be going to other peoples gardens..... "My brothers keeper", is something that seams to come to my mind. I sarcastically joke about, "not being my brothers keeper",  for most folks do not care about anything but themselves. Who cares if the Honeybee population dies out, right....... Not here to preach and this is a subject I can get real passionate about. Guy humors me and just lets me rant haha



Just joked with Guy about my ranting. Saying you heard it all before (my rants), but dogonit these people may not have! We both laughed and Guy says to you all,"Sorry about your luck", haha! Keeping the wording clean for some of my younger readers!

In the shot above a couple Honeybee's are gathered for drinks. I like to watch the Honeybee's communication between each other, doing jigs and what not! Predators have a field day with the Honeybee as well! Picking off the Honeybee one by one. No wonder they stay in groups! While I was here the birds staid away. The other insect did not......

I think that is enough photographs. I do have more photographs in the album I made just for this post, though like I said they are kind of a mess.... Thank you for coming by and checking out my photographs and reading! Even if some of my ranting came out in the process..... See you on Monday with whatever else I came up with haha

honey bee on a bachelor button flower

Mrsroadrunner Photography | honey bee on a bachelor button flower




Most folks know of the Honey Bee? If not here is a example of the Honey Bee! The flower the Honey Bee is working on is a Bachelor Button.



I make it no secrete that our place comes to life in spring and summer! The HUMMMM of the bee's of all shapes, forms, colors I also make folks aware of if they stop by to chat.



The pollen is typically orange on the Honey Bee's legs, however it is white on this Honey Bee's legs. Just depends what the Honey Bee is working on. Assuming the pollen on the Bachelor Button is white.....



Something about the Bachelor Button. We do not just have flowers bought somewhere, we grow all our flowers typically by seed, bulb,tube whatever. The Bachelor Button is one of those plants one has to watch out for. It is a weed in some places. It can grow around two in a half plus feet high, it seeds like no ones business!! Easy to grow and care for. When it goes to seed it can and will fall over, spreading it's seeds as far away from the main plant as possible. Killing other flowers in it's wake. How do I know this haha? Experienced this for ourselves! Just be careful growing this flower that comes in many colors!



As you can see the Honey Bee's really like the Bachelor Button flowers! Not only the Honey Bee! I have liked the Bachelor Button since I was a child growing up over the mountain in Eugene Oregon. The places I would go to watch the wildlife I also would come across the Bachelor Buttons growing wild. Fact is, I thought of it as a wild flower here in Oregon. It was only when I moved here to the High Desert that I thought of putting it in the garden to attract the pollinators. Attracting the pollinators this flower does!!

You should be able to push on the photographs to make the photo bigger, share, there is a lot of features to look at the photographs! All my posts are first placed at the main website, mrsroadrunner.com . This is where the photographs are hosted at and where you should be directed to go to see the bigger photographs and the features if you are at one of my affiliate sites.

Thank you for coming by and seeing this small series of photographs!

Honey Bee Coming In For A Landing

Mrsroadrunner Photography | Honey Bee Coming In For A Landing




Hope your weekend was a good one?! Meet the Honey Bee. Many people know the Honey Bee!! The flower of this series is the Poppy Flower. The Honey Bee's do like the Poppy, specially the red Poppy!! Or the salt and pepper shaker flower!

The Honey Bee for being the size it is, does the work of several humans just buzzing around doing their thing! If it were not for the Honey Bee in part (pollinators in general), I would not have the seeds nor the food we grow here!



These photographs were taken in my garden on 8/10/2014. I have had conversations in the real world and on the computer, and phone with Honey Bee keepers, scientists ie with the professional Honey Bee keepers. Picked up a little information of this incredible insect!! Found out from those I will call them "die hards", the Honey Bee Keepers really are fond of their Honey Bee colonies ie hives as we our say as fond of our cats and dogs!

One thing I learned pretty quickly from those who know so much more then I about the Honey Bee is? The word "Honey Bee", is a catch all phrase for a species of Bee who turns their hard work into Honey for themselves. As with any species some day I will dive into the names, characteristics of each sub species of Honey Bee. For now those that come to my garden and the other places I go to are in two categories, the wild Honey Bee and the Domesticated Honey Bee. I can only tell the difference from their behavior at this point.

I recall running into one of these Honey Bee keepers in Condon Oregon. I love talking about any creature! This man new so much about Honey Bee's and a pacific kind of Honey Bee he blew me away!! I can talk about most things, though I admit some folks talk way over my head, therefor I try and just listen. If say the person wants to talk about whatever, I am in heaven. Though sometimes the people too are trying to gather information. I felt rather badly for my information was rather limited compared to his!! Of course my Honey Bee photography started that whole conversation and this is a typical conversation starter in my world.



Our garden here is rather small compared to some gardens. Our place is not big!! So Guy is my other half, and he is the one who plans out what, mostly in his head. Pretty much every inch of our soil is used up! So to some folks this may seam like we have a big garden?? To others well.... we live in a area where there are farms and ranches. I had 20 acres which is considered a small area here. I was going to turn into a wildlife place. Unfortunately this economy hit us as it had done to millions of folks here in America. So, we talked it over and turned this place into a mini place!! We have so many Honey Bee's here at times it is interesting considering we are not a big place!!

In fact we have so many Honey Bee's and other types of insects who can sting I will ask parents of kids and the parents themselves if they come here if they are allergic to bee's! Insects who visit here get rather used to me, that is I do the same old, same old. Such things I feel can get used to us just like we get used to them. Here at the house I have been stung one time. That is pretty good odds considering I get right up and close into their business!! We also do not allow them to set up shop here! That is make nests. As if I would know if the smaller species have nests here for instance, the ground nests.....Strangers I notice get checked out by the bee's. The bee's even the Honey Bee's check out the visitors that are with me on our place. Perhaps this is due to the perfumes, soap,chemicals the person is wearing?? That whole topic of chemicals people wear and what it does to big and little things like insects is another topic haha!

We do have new neighbors who have kids , they seam to be respectful of my garden. Lets hope it stays that way? Another neighbor is not so respectful!! I had to go to her son (who btw I think is older then I am haha), and ask him to please talk to his mother about just walking onto our place like she does cutting my flowers and peaking through windows, the dog fence etc.. She wont listen to me I informed him. You got to love small , rural towns hahahaha



With all that said, and my rambling added in..... the Honey Bee is a pretty docile Bee. The domesticated ones who show up by the thousands by train to our area (I was told they come here from California), they are the most docile away from their hives. Dont go walking up to their hives while they are awake and you are not prepared haha, I know I found out hahahahaha!

The wild Honey Bee are a little more..... on edge is a good way of saying it ? We have a "bug dog", here. He has to be told not to go after the Honey Bee. Otherwise ...... I have turned his attention to the ants which he can get all he wants to!!

We do have the domesticated Honey Bee show up here who are sick. They fall to the ground in mid flight. They will fall over, sometimes going into circles before falling over. We ONLY water with fresh water! I tried watering with our ag. water we pay for however, even though I am on the list of people to call when chemicals are applied (the water lines get clogged etc.. and they put chemicals in it to clear out the clogs, clean the lines) ... I am not a big phone answering person. So this is my fault, so I just assume not use that water, which is not for flowers, ponds, food gardens etc. anyways. I feel that water is for grass. Facts are much of the water in the USA is used for plan old grass ie lawns. I hate lawns for this fact. Folks like that green lawn..... dose not produce flowers or food, but it does keep down the dust , soil erosion. Leave that with something positive.....





I recall as a child (oh 6yrs old??), I came up with this brilliant idea.... and of course my younger sibling followed right along! We were going to catch the Honey Bee's and drown them!! Gosh we were both real little ! So we were doing our thing, I dropped the lid of the jar into the bucket of water! Well, I did not know any better and reached in and grabbed the lid, along with oh half dozen Honey Bees? Ya I got stung A LOT!!

Couple things I learned, one the Honey Bee is a bee who will die if it stings. So the Honey Bee is not going to sting for nothing!! Two, that was a pretty crummy and stupid thing to do!! Three, I was not allergic to Honey Bee's. My father after this went and got some honey from somewhere? All us kids got to have some , and I learned about the Honey Bee first "hand"!

Thank you for coming by , hope you liked my photography! I have more photographs and more to come! I have this in the insect album if you want to take a peak?

Hope your monday has started off well? We woke up to snow, which is not all that surprising haha! I will be over in twitter here soon enough,stop by and say Hi if you got the time! If I am still there live and kicking I respond rather quickly :)