honey bee

Earlier this summer, as I was out walking, I heard a persistent buzzing sound I hadn’t noticed before. Curious, I looked around and discovered a hive of busy bees tucked behind vines inside a hollowed-out tree trunk beside the road, each one diligently working away.

“The hum of bees is the voice of the garden.” ~Elizabeth Lawrence

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Throughout the summer, it was encouraging to see various types of bees diligently transferring pollen from flower to flower.

“For so work the honey bees, creatures that by a rule in nature teach the act of order to a peopled kingdom.” ~William Shakespeare

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I believe this was my favorite—the American Bumble Bee (Bombus pensylvanicus). Such a beauty! It plays an important role in pollinating many different plants.

The careful insect ‘midst his works I view,
Now from the flowers exhaust the fragrant dew,
With golden treasures load his little thighs,
And steer his distant journey through the skies.
~John Gay, Rural Sports (canto I, I. 82)

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This year, morning glories blossomed along my fence, and it was fascinating to observe the bees as they slept—with their heads tucked inside the flower blossoms and their tiny bottoms sticking out. When the flowers opened in the morning, the bees busily buzzed about, gathering nectar and pollen.