mahonia Feb '21

Both backyard hives have NOD Bee Cozy R8 insulated hive wraps and do not fly during cold gray winter days.  During a week of decidedly sunny days, bees fly vigorously and are found foraging on mahonia. Standing by the mahonia, I looked in direction of the hives for the beeline bearing.  A straight 38 ft (11.6 m) line connects hives and mahonia, but the straight line nicks the corner of the chicken coop which is 7 ft (2.1 m) tall. Some bees are seen flying over the coop while other bees fly around the coop. These mahonia foraging bees are of the same mind regarding where and what to forage, but not how to get there.

bee freeloading

I enjoyed a break outdoors sitting in warm late fall sunshine.  When I returned indoors to continue my work-from-home I heard the familiar buzz, but I was not able to find the bee on my clothing.  The next day she was captured in a clear solo cup which are kept handy as a remedy for bee freeloading.  The bee was not moving in a coordinated way, so I added a few drops of honey in the clear cup, but she was not interested in feeding.  

Taken from my beelining playbook, I placed the clear cup in a darken area to encourage feeding. Yeah, I'm obsessed with beelining and see the world of insects through a beelining lens. For this freeloading bee, light seeking behavior was stronger than foraging behavior.

applying paint to bees

My beelining plans are coming together, but I need experience applying paint to bees. Initially bees arrived to the sky burial stack of boxes with an unpredictable flight path. Later, bees returned to the boxes in a slower and more predictable path - an irresistible opportunity to paint bees. I successfully applied washable kids paint to bee abdomens, but I need more practice applying paint to the bee thorax - I'll get there.

autumn blooming chrysanthemum

 

I read Seeley's Following the Wild Bees and became keenly interested in beelining.  I ordered a beelining box from BetterBee and have since sealed the wood with water-based polyurethane. Without success I have been searching for honey bees on wild goldenrod flowers for beelining. Instead I found honey bees on Ryan Gainey Chrysanthemums.   You might say my beelining problem is solved, but I don't want to crush the neighbor's flower heads with the beelining box.  So, I'll wait and wait some more for honey bees to discover wild goldenrod flowers.

mahonia Feb '18

For weeks now, bees forage on mahonia and maple, but as the expression goes, not in my backyard.  This iPhone photo marks a small backyard pride milestone where I can follow the entire beeline between plant and hive.   Click on the image and surprise yourself at the photo detail.