Here come the bees

Oh, how I love this time of year when many native and other bees arrive and find nectar sources in the garden!

Now that the blackberry blossoms are opening up, it's easy to observe bees all day long on the patio. Above a Van Dyke's Bumble Bee Bombus vandykei buries its face in a blackberry blossom as it collects pollen and nectar.

A Yellow-Faced Bumble Bee Bombus vosnesenskii lands on a Coastal Tidy Tips Layia platyglossa blossom. Look at those orange pollen baskets!

I couldn't figure out what this Wool Carder Bee Anthidium manicatum was doing.

It rested for about five minutes on the Lambs Ear as its mandibles constantly moved.

It certainly wasn't collecting fibers from the leaf.

Looks like I need to do some more research about their habits.

Aha!

Look who is resting on a dried stem, an Ivory Banded Digger Bee Anthophora californica !

These bees seem to be in perpetual motion, zipping through the garden, pausing very briefly to sip nectar from flowers.

It always seems like a great achievement to actually capture these bees on camera.