After warm temperatures in early spring, quickly followed by a cold spell lasting a good two weeks, the sun is finally out again.
Bees are busy foraging. Here are a few pictures of what I saw on Kale flowers.
In the past, people have asked me whether male mason bees forage and pollinate. I presumed they do some feeding on nectar because they would need to be energized over the two week period that they are around. Males probably don’t do very much pollinating or moving pollen around from one flower to another because when they arrive at a flower- they do it without much movement over the flower. Today I took picture of a male mason bee drinking nectar out of a flower.
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| Male mason bee getting energized by drinking some nectar. Note long antennae and white hairs on front of face. |
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| Native leafcutter bee feeding on pollen and nectar. Note stripes on abdomen (Family Megachildae). |
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| Another tiny bee (6 mm/1/4″ long) busy feeding on nectar and collecting pollen. |
