Category: Honey Bee

Honey Bee

Honey Bee (Apis), surrounded by autumnal color in the center of a Gaillardia, collecting both nectar and pollen. Honey Bees need nectar and pollen for their colony. As they collect the pollen it is unwittingly distributed among other flowers, providing a helping hand, pollinating those flowers. The pollen provides nutrients including protein, which is used mostly for their larvae. The nectar provides the bees energy. Honey Bees are not a single species. Historically 7 to 11 species are acknowledged. A small number, compared to the 20,000 known bee species of the world.

Gaillardia

Here Gaillardias are growing wild in New Mexico, at Bandelier National Monument. A park I’ve visited many times. And hope to visit many more times.

And more Gaillardias growing wild at Bandelier National Monument. It seems they’re ubiquitous!

It amuses me. My Dad had a thing about digging up Dandelions in his lawn. He was always in a battle with them. That was in Maryland. My father-in-law also had a thing about digging things up from his lawn. The flowers he was in a constant battle with? Gaillardia. That was in New Mexico.

I love Gaillardias. But I must plant them, and care for them. I guess a weed is something that grows where you don’t want it to be.

Gaillardias are in the Sunflower family. Gaillardia is a genus of flowering plants that are native to the Americas. There are twenty-five to thirty species of Gaillardia, annuals, biennials, and perennials. There are also many cultivars.

Many pollinators are attracted to the bright colors of the blooms. Such as the Honey Bee in the previous image, and here a Carpenter Bee.

Butterflies love Gaillardia too. Here a Silvery Checkerspot is enjoying a Gaillardia in one of my gardens.