Bumble Bee and Blazing Star –
Whenever you see a honey bee you think of honey and where they have it stored. But with bumblebees that’s not the case – bumblebees don’t make honey. They just collect nectar and pollen. Then they take it to their nectar hive where they fuel up whenever they need it. Bumblebees don’t live in large colonies, but roam around solitary searching for nectar.
Bumblebees are a lot bigger than your average honey bee. They have a yellow fuzzy thorax and a black abdomen and they carry pollen in ‘baskets’ on their back legs.
The wildflower this bumblebee is pollinating is called a Blazing Star. Its purple blooms look like fireworks bursting in the night. Blazing Star is a fall bloomer which makes it one of the few plants that provide food for bees and migrating butterflies like Monarchs.
I have always wondered why they call them bumble bees. They rarely sting and seem friendly. They fly kind of lopsided and lazy…bumbling and beautiful.
