26 Thursday Jul 2018
Posted in Photography
Today I went to Princeton Lavender, a small farm near our house that grows lavender and sells it under various forms, including honey from bees that feed on the lavender flowers. If you want to go there, their address is: 3741 Lawrenceville Road, Princeton, NJ 08540.
Bee on lavender.
Several other kinds of insects were enjoying the lavender field.
Clouded Yellow butterfly on lavender.
Green Praying Mantis on lavender.
Brown Praying Mantis on lavender.
12 Thursday Jul 2018
Posted in Photography
I have been planting milkweed (Asclepias Tuberosa) in our backyard for the past three years. It’s an easy plant, requiring virtually no care (note the weed in its name). A sunny afternoon found a bee and a Monarch butterfly on the milkweed.
Bee on milkweed.
Bee on milkweed.
Monarch laying eggs on milkweed.
Monarch, done laying eggs.
30 Sunday Aug 2015
Posted in Photography
Closeup of a bee harvesting pollen on a cup plant (Silphium perfoliatum) flower. Note the pollen sac, one of two, on the bee. That’s where pollen is accumulated before it is brought back to the hive.
Bee on cup plant flower.
I took the above photo last Friday at Deep Cut Park in Middletown, NJ.
22 Wednesday Jul 2015
Posted in Photography
Tags
Cone flowers or Echinaceas are at their peak at the height of summer. These days, in addition to the traditional pink, they come in many shapes and colors such as white, yellow, orange, purple, and even green. I took the following shots this past weekend at the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge in the Finger Lakes region of New York state. The refuge had several varieties, but the pink ones dominated. The bees loved them!
Pink Echinacea
Bee on Echinacea
Closeup of bee on cone flower
Yellow cone flower
05 Sunday Oct 2014
Posted in Photography
There are not many wildflowers left at this time of the year. Gone are the wild sweet pea and cardinal flowers, leaving not even a trace of their former selves. This morning I searched hard for other flowers and happened on these salt marsh asters which looked rather pedestrian until I came for a closer look and saw bees busy at work on them. These flowers are quite small, as you can tell from their size in comparison to the bees.
Salt marsh asters and bees
Salt marsh asters and bee
The blue background you see in the above photo is Spring Lake at the Abbott Marshlands. The following shot is of an Eastern Phoebe, I think. It was flying back and forth in front of me as I hiked around the lake. At one point, it stopped on a tree branch and gave me enough time to get this shot.
Eastern Phoebe at Spring Lake
16 Sunday Mar 2014
Posted in Photography, Weekly Photo Challenge
Tags
azalea, bee, inside, photography, postaday, weekly photo challenge
For this challenge: a bee going inside a clump of azalea flowers to gather nectar.
Bee going inside azalea flowers
This is a photo from last year. The azaleas are not yet blooming this year, but they surely will in about a month.
