Before venturing out into the back garden I ID'd a couple of moths found in the kitchen this morning. One was a Marbled Beauty, the other I'm struggling with but I think its a Willow Beauty.
.
Willow Beauty I think!
Marbled Beauty, Bryophila domestica
In the back garden though, lots of activity with lots of Honey Bees and one or two Leaf-cutter bees on the Purple Loosestrife. On the Buddleia 2 Large Whites and a Meadow Brown. By the pond a Common Frog and along the wall lots of Pill Woodlouse.
Meadow Brown
Common Frog
Pill Woodlouse, Armadillidium vulgare
Solitary Bees hotel with many cells now full with nests of the Leaf-cutter Bee.
Leaf-cutter Bee
Honey Bee
Honey Bee
This Honey Bee has a slight colour variation.
Even more so with this one and the reason for the different colours, is down to genetics.The queen may mate with many drones and the offspring may look strikingly different from one another. Also having different drones mating with the queen, ensures that the hive has a better wintering ability and disease resistance, a result of the drone’s chromosomes.
They all seem to be carrying black pollen sacs.
There is a guide to pollen colours. However the book is extremely expensive. The black pollen sacs on these bees though, didn't come from the Purple Loosestrife they are on. Pollen from this flower is a range of light to dark green.
More on Pollen Colours
Here.
An interesting article on Pollen from Purple Loosestrife
Here
There are some very good pollen guides
The prices hmm.
The Pollen Loads of the Honey Bee. A Guide to Their Identification By Colour and Form by Hodges, Dorothy
Price £295
The Pollen Loads of the Honey Bee. A Guide to Their Identification By Colour and Form by Hodges, Dorothy
Price £60
A Colour Guide to Pollen Loads of the Honey Bee Paperback – 25 Aug 2006 by William D.J. Kirk Price £999.11
(no its not a misprint)
Pollen Loads of the Honey Bee
