Sunday, August 28, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Leafcutter bee "hive"
The rectangular shelters located in the occasional alfalfa field around Powell house leaf cutter bees. Smaller than honey bees, leafcutter bees are used to pollinate seed alfalfa crops. Leafcutter bees are not social; they don't gather in hives, although female leafcutter bees will nest close to one another. The shelters house boards which have been grooved and fitted together to form small "tunnels" where the bees lay their eggs. The bees then pack the eggs in with leaf fragments they have chewed off. The boards are protected during the winter, and the next season the eggs hatch out and the cycle starts again.
Friday, August 5, 2011
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