Yellow-faced bumble bee enjoying the lavender

There are so many yellow-faced bumble bees in the garden these days.

I just think they are adorable.

Look at this one on a lavender flower head, and see its cute antennae and an eye.

One of the reasons why there are so many of these bees around the garden is because of the blooming blackberry vines from our neighbors garden. The neighbors property is above us, as we are on a hillside. As anyone who is familiar with blackberry plants knows, they can produce an enormous amount of vines that must always be kept in check.

The vines grow over the fence that separates us from the neighbors property, and they form a nice green leafy wall. Now is prime time for the vines to blossom, and there are thousands of blooms on the vines. And at any given time when the temperatures are warm and the sun shines on the blossoms, there are at least twenty bees, sometimes forty. The ratio seems to always be half and half - half of them honey bees and half of them yellow-faced bumble bees.

The bees then continue their feast down in our garden with nectar and pollen from other sources such as the lavender plants.