Tag: bees

Native Bee Talk

Native bee talk in Marin today
Native bee talk!

Today, Doc and I went to the native bee talk at Heiðrún Meadery, up in West Marin today. It was great, we got to learn a lot about native bees, and then we got to walk around and look at native bees and catch them to look at them (and then release them, of course). Doc even caught a cuckoo bee!

Native bee talk in Marin today
The cuckoo bee that Doc caught

Everybody looked around a lot for bumblebees, because supposedly it is the season for there to be lots of them, but we did not see any bumblebees (surprising, too, because at my office in Marin I see bumblebees all the time). Oh, well. We saw at least 5 other species of native bees, though!

Native bee talk in Marin today
The meadery’s hives for European honeybees (not California native bees, but still fun)

The lecture also coincided with oyster Sunday at the meadery, so we got to have oysters and mead as well.

Native bee talk in Marin today
Doc drinking mead

Swarming Bees

Doc and I were wandering around after working out at the gym, when suddenly I saw a huge swarm of bees dangling from a pomegranate tree at 21st and Treat.

beees

They were swarming around with at least one queen, looking for a new place to build a hive. It was pretty amazing. They were surprisingly forgiving of my curiosity and sticking my face right up to their swarm, since bees are apparently even more reticent to sting when they don’t have any hive to defend.

I was obsessed with the bees all day, so we went to go check out the area to see if they decided to settle in the pomegranate tree, but they were gone without a trace. Farewell, bees!