New video from my YouTube page, showing some of the visitors to the Pasture Thistle (Cirsium discolor) in my yard. There are native thistles, and non-native thistles. This thistle is native to my region and provides a lot of value to wildlife.
The Xerces Society has a great guide about thistles on their website.
There’s a new video up on my YouTube page. It’s a short video of some of the insects that visit the Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) I have in my garden and yard. It’s a great plant for pollinators and wildlife. Plant some if you’re in the native range of where it grows.
This video is part of a short series that will be going up each of the next few Fridays. Each video will show some of the insects and wildlife that visits specific native plant species in my yard.
If you like the video, feel free to share it with family and friends, subscribe to my channel, or leave a comment 🙂
New video up on the ol’ Tube of You. It’s a short compilation of some of my bumblebee footage, hopefully relaxing. Bumblebees are pretty amazing pollinators.
If you’d like to learn more about bumblebees, the Xerces Society has a very helpful page on their website.
Let’s do the timelapse again!
Bunch of timelapse video clips from my garden. Timelapse can be a fun way to get an idea of how many pollinators are visiting flowers.
These are a few photos I took last year of a bumblebee performing some highly unusual aerial maneuvers. I’m not sure if it was showing off, or just windy out. Although, you’ll notice the flower never moves 🙂
More nature propaganda! Another short video I made. All the footage is from my own yard. It’s meant to hopefully inspire you to turn part of your yard (if you haven’t already) into an awesome native plant garden or habitat.
This is a short “propaganda” video I put together on behalf of the bees and bugs that call my yard home 🙂 Feel free to share with anyone you think may enjoy it.
Asters are a fall delight. Every year, I’m surprised by the amount of blooms put out by these plants. Patiently waiting the entire summer for their moment to shine.Read More »
This summer I’ve started doing timelapse videos of pollinators on some of my plants. Most people probably aren’t going to watch a two hour video of bugs and bees on flowers (but if you are one of those people, thumbs up), so timelapses are a cool way to quickly show the amount of pollinators visiting a plant.Read More »
For full effect, please imagine this being read this in David Attenborough’s voice. Thank you for your consideration.
Today, I’m going to do a profile of a very rare and unusual bee: Bombus felinus, common name, the bumblecat.
Most of you who are familiar with bees and pollinators may have never heard of the elusive bumblecat, but a cursory search of the internet reveals hundreds of documented sitings by amateur entomologists.Read More »
I was at my high school reunion not that long ago, and was talking to someone I hadn’t seen in years. Our conversation had somehow turned to bees. After talking a bit, it became apparent that we had a shared interest in them. He started telling me about bumblebee queens and how they nest. I found it fascinating. They commonly use old rodent burrows and are attracted to mouse urine, which presumably helps them locate the aforementioned rodent burrows. How had I not known more about this?
Fast forward to the end of summer. I was headed outside to my car to go over to a friend’s house. Along my driveway I have some sedum planted. It’s always a big hit with the bees. As I looked at my sedum, I noticed a very big bumblebee. I mean BIG. If it was any bigger I could have thrown a saddle on it and ridden it.
Instantly, my brain became consumed by one giant connect the dots puzzle.
“This dot connects to that one, and then the next. . . Whoops, I messed up. . . Go back. . . Wish I wouldn’t have used pen. . . . Okay, that’s better. . . And the last dot. . . It’s finished!”
What did the dots create? A queen bee! Or ‘gyne’ to use the proper scientific term.
I quickly pulled out my cellphone and did my best impression of insect paparazzi.
“Over here, over here!”
“Smile!”
“Say cheese!”
“No, I didn’t want you to say a type of cheese like parmesan or roquefort, just the word ‘Cheese’!”
“Okay, that’s better. Thank you!”
(takes picture)
The video in this post was taken maybe a few days later in my garden. The bee seemed to have been hanging out in my garden for a few days, presumably fattening up on all the tasty nectar. It kind of reminds me of the scene from the movie Alien, where the alien opens its mouth and a tiny mouth comes out.
For more extremely short bug videos, check out my YouTube.
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