A couple of weeks go, I was walking across my outside deck in Northwest Oregon. I watch a portly bumblebee fly from our nearby ornamental garden, to the deck near my feet, and then it ducked through the cracks and disappeared under the deck.
Every so often, more bees ventured to and from from that spot on that deck. An occasionally oversized bumblebee was too large to fit through the cracks, and it had to roam around for another opportunity to enter.
Nearby, mature lavender bushes hosts many of the bumblebees, with a couple of dozen there at any one time.
There’s a better look at bee heaven,it’s actually two types, purple and silver lavender.
I was concerned the bumblebees might damage the house’s wood. Fortunately bumble bees have dry nests and don’t chew on wood, so we’re not worried. They are our garden’s little helpers, and we credit the bees with our bountiful harvests of pretty flowers, grapes, berries, and vegetables.
We also have mail-order mason and leafcutter bees.
I ponder whether all the bees spurred our pollinating plants, or if the pollinating plants lured the bees. All I’m sure of, is we have a ton of bees, impossibly blooming flowers, and a welcome grape and vegetable harvest coming up.
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