Bumble Bees on the patio

How fortunate I was today to observe not one, but two different kinds of bumble bees on the Sunshine Blueberry shrubs today.

Above is a Yellow-Faced Bumble Bee bombus vosnesenskii hanging upside down from one of the blossoms. Look at the distinctive stripe near its bottom, and the orange pollen baskets.

Here is the same Yellow-Faced Bumble Bee, again upside down, but now facing the camera.

And here is a Black-Tailed Bumble Bee bombus melanopygus.

These bumble bees are much smaller than the Yellow-Faced Bumble Bee, which means that they also fly much faster, therefore harder to photograph.

This is the first time I ever saw a Black-Tailed Bumble Bee, so it was very exciting to observe.

Although this isn't a great shot of the busy Black-Tailed Bumble Bee, I think it shows well the markings of this particular bee. See the little black marking on its rear. Also note its antennae in the front.

Both of these bees buzzed nearly every blueberry blossom, dispensing lots of pollen on their bodies.

And that took quite a while, considering there are two plants with a lot of blossoms.