The grapefruit orchard is blooming.
Perfuming the air with intoxicating scent,
and bringing hordes of honeybees.
At night I drift,
drunk on grapefruit flower air,
dreaming of the buzzing bees.
Cheers to you from the Holler Orchards and all the humming honeybees~
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It is heartening to see so many honey bees – safe in the Holler’s abundance and sanctuary. Thank you for sharing such beauty and hope, Cindy.
For you Carol, it is a complete joy. Be well my friend~
Sun and summer!
Almost endless here. Wish we had a bit more winter and rain!
Too bad we can’t trade a little!
Cindy, beautiful pictures. We have to protect our bees, the giver of all life. Thank you! Hugs! Veraiconica
Have a wonderful weekend my dear friend Veraiconica. <3 <3
Was in your area until yesterday. Recent rains has desert in full bloom. Looked great. Nice pictures of the flowers and bees, keep them coming. A.G.
Oooooh thanks for the reminder! Must pop over to Borrego to see the blooms. So glad you had a nice trip~
Wonderful. Looks like they are collecting nectar only and not pollen from the grapefruits.
I was hoping you might glance at the post! I had no idea. But now that you mention it yes, no pollen is being deposited on their legs and they are drinking nectar. I need to pay attention to the difference. I am going to google this to learn more……Thank you for pointing it out and hope your hives are happy. Very glad you stopped by so I could learn something new!
Whether a flower provides pollen or not is quite complicated and depends on the particular species. Some tree species contain a mix of male and female flowers on an individual tree, while some (like holly) will be entirely male or female and others will produce flowers that contain both male and female parts. The male stamens produce the pollen – I think I can see some in your photos above.
Whether you see honey bees carrying pollen in their baskets is further complicated by the fact that not all honey bees specialise in collecting pollen – most foraging bees will focus on collecting nectar and then smaller numbers will focus either on only collecting pollen or a mixture of pollen and nectar.
Fascinating. Thank you for taking the time to explain the incredible, and intricate life of bees.and flowers. I hope your hives are doing well & cheers to you! <3
I remember, as a child, our almond trees blooming with their delightful smell and humming honey bees. I’d sit under the trees with a good book and enjoy the experience. Thanks for the fun photos and memories. –Curt
Yep, I loved bees as a child too. I used to cup them in two hands and let them crawl on my arms and legs. I never got stung. We have almond trees that grow near the holler. Beautiful flowers, that produce, although they are abandoned trees. I should collect the nuts and see what they are like, but there are a lot of abandoned fruit trees out here that produce, and I only pick some…..
Have to leave some for the wildlife. 🙂
Today I finally got a bunch of pics of a 16 inch alligator lizard. The second one I’ve seen this long. The first one was longer but I didn’t get a pic, I was too surprised!
Beautiful shots, Cindy. 🙂
Thank you my friend an happy weekend!
How beautiful! Love these macros! have a great weekend!
You too my friend! I am sure the kestrels will keep you hopping~ ,3
LOVE the smell of citrus blossoms! Ours are still a week or so away. So send those bees when you’re done with them!
They will pick up the scent and buzz on over!
Wonderful! We have some almond and apple orchards they can share as well!
Uh oh, they may not come back! 😉
So bee-tiful! \ (•◡•) /
Buzzing beauties…….;)
Thanks Cindy for sharing these wonderful pics. It’s lovely to see a little sunshine and some bees, considering the time of year it is here in Britain 🙂
Very pleased you enjoyed, and hope your spring comes very soon. I’ll be in the UK soon and look forward to to flowers! <3
Intoxicating Cindy! A beautifully delicious post and a reminder of the scent of the Orange groves of my beginning. 🙂
Blooming citrus groves are pure nirvana aren’t they! If you haven’t experienced it, there is no way to describe it. Light, yet completely ethereal. Cheers & hugz to you Lea. Hope life is being good to you in France my firend~ <3 <3
They are. I grew up surrounded by orange groves. That town no longer has any orange groves and I think it is so sad. Cheers to you Cindy and things are well here, if not a bit hectic at times but that is life. Are you back in France anytime soon? There is always much to see and do and your camera shows it all off so well. 🙂 x
Heading to Europe & Africa soon, but not France during this swing unfortunately. Your childhood orange groves sound divine. I remember them up and down the state. So sorry most are gone~
Gosh, these photos make me so happy!
Well this made my morning! Thanks so much~
I wish I could smell that glorious smell Cindy but I’m glad to have been able to share the rest of the experience through your wonderful words and photos. Thank you.
Ahhh, so happy you stopped by for a visit my friend! Cheers to you & be well~
Truly stunning photos!
And your Lord inspired to the bee, “Take for yourself among the mountains, houses, and among the trees and [in] that which they construct.
Thank you so much! And yes, we need the bees everywhere! Be well my friend~
Thank you also my dear friend. Have a great weekend.
🙂
Cindy, the posts are so, so beautiful! This world is a real miracle…
It is just sitting there, waiting for us to notice and lift our spirits isn’t it! You capture the beauty so well in your gorgeous paintings~
Wow! I wish I could get shots like that 🙂 I could almost smell the orchids and feel the sun on my face!
So glad, the bees had to share the spotlight with flowers in these photos because the combination of the bees and scented flowers is just ethereal to experience. I am so pleased this came across to you my friend & cheers to you~
You’re the bee’s knees, Cindy!!
Well, you are the bees knees and tippy toes two! <3
Yeah! The triple T! That’s for me. 🙂
🙂
Extraordinary photos and another one of my favorite’s to photograph. They move constantly so it takes a lot of patience. Well done.
Thank you. It is a lot easier to capture them when they are on a dense bush like rosemary, but much harder when they flit around the blooms on a tree!
Ah. That makes sense. I spent a lot of time last summer chasing them from sunflower to sunflower, pumpkin to pumpkin. It was then that I learned the buzzing stopped when they gather nectar, then begins again as they depart the bloom. Isn’t it all just fascinating?
Yes, and I didn’t know that about the buzzing! Amazing little buzzers or, errr…..non-buzzers! 😉
😉
Fantastische Blütenaufnahmen von Kakteen, Sukkulenten und Dickblattgewächsen aus der Wüste, vielen Dank für’s zeigen Cindy!!!
<3 Ernst
Zürich hat eine sehr grosse Sammlung !
http://museen-zuerich.ch/museen/museum/sukkulenten-sammlung-zurich
Oh, was fur ein Zufall! Ich war in diesem Museum und wurde jemandem daruber zu erzahlen, aber ich konnte mich nicht erinnern, wo es war! So glucklich haben Sie es gefunden fur mich! Vielen Dank Ernst~ <3
Just stoppin’ by to see what all the buzz is about. 😉
Just the busy, buzzing, bees! 😉
Hooray for all bees!
I second the motion!! <3
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