I opened my slider today and could not believe the droning of the bees! I could hear it as soon as I stepped outside. Amazingly loud.
So, I recorded it on my phone.
The bees, hundreds of them – if not thousands – are in the Raywood Ash trees. We have a HUGE Raywood Ash tree just in front of our house and several planted around the house. Truly, it was lovely and astounding. The bees were swarming all over the new buds.
As you can see, my car is covered in pollen. (Not a great place to park, I’ve learned.)
I wonder if the bees will still be there tomorrow? And, I wonder where they live when they aren’t in the trees? I have no idea where they have created their hive. But I do know that they come every year and fly first to the Raywood Ash’s and then to the California Peppers and then the Orange tree. I wish they would do more work with the plum and apple trees around here, but alas, maybe not their thing.
(We live in California near the Central Coast – in wine country. You are looking at grape vines and olive orchards all around our house. Also, yesterday was a ‘burn’ day, so the horizon is smoky.)
SOUND UP!
Click here to watch the video.
Click image to watch and HEAR the video. That is POLLEN, not dirt, on my car. This happened overnight.
This is a pic where you can kinda tell the size of the tree – when full – compared to the table.
The bees make all of those leaves! The tree is way, taller than the house.
Thank you!
If interested in attracting more pollinators for longer periods of time, especially bees, you may wish to consider adding plantings around your home (obviously that are not toxic to your dogs, donkeys or horses), with a bloom season that stretches further than tree pollinating season. Maybe even via hanging floral baskets with some hummingbird-friendly flowers too. Personally, I love to see more butterflies and moths so I found ways and places to add blooming plants that those pollinators just love. You could also think perhaps of starting your own Mason bee colony though that might mean a lot more of a time and labor commitment.