On 4/21/12 9:00 AM, Way Back Jack wrote:
A regular bee. Yep, it was an Eyetalian goombah honeybee singing O Sole
Mio while scarfing down nectar from a Russian olive tree. This was the 1st
regular bee I've seen in years.

Ironically, there were no bumbles. Normally, Russian olives are loaded
with bumbles. Come to think of it, haven't seen many bumbles at all this
yr. Maybe they're succumbing to the die back that has wasted the regular
bees.

Geez, I can remember when regular bees were ubiquitous, but that's another
story.

I see honey bees, bumble bees, and wood bees all the time. (The latter
are the size of bumble bees but all black. They are solitary bees -- no
hive -- that tunnel into dead branch stubs on trees and into the ends of
house beams to lay eggs in packets of pollen and nectar.)

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary