A combination of photographs & handwritten text on a grey background. Photos are all of red & yellow Nomad bees, text describes my observations & gives basic info on this type of bee.

We did a residency on Saltspring in June. There was a big area full of Andrena nests, & tons of Nomada.

I compiled my observations into these info sheets to share with the residency.

#dailybee #dailyisastateofmindwhenyoureaudhd #bcnativebees #saltspringisland #hemlockmicroresidency

A large bumble bee queen is in mid-fall out of a yellow sunflower, her back towards the ground & her legs all over the place

The petals gave up trying to hold this Chonky Queen’s weight

#dailybee #bcnativebees #bumblebees #queenbee #nativebees #nanaimo #vancouverisland

A long horned bee with back legs packed with pollen is perched precariously on the top of a purple aster flower. She has her wings up for balance and a leg in the air

From a few weeks ago

Melissodes female trying to balance those pollen thighs atop a wee aster flower

#dailybee #bcnativebees #nativebees #vancouverisland #nanaimo #nativeplants #pollinators

A bee is in the centre of a bright yellow gumweed flower, collecting pollen. Her face is in shadow but her abdomen is pointed almost 90 degrees up from the rest of her body, with stripes of pale hair catching the sunlight

Bee season is waning

Leafcutter lady/ Megachile fidelis on Grindelia doing the patented BBL (bee butt lift)

She’s putting that wasp waist to good use

#dailybee #bcnativebees #leafcutterbees #nativebees #nanaimo #vancouverisland #pollinators

A large bumblebee seen from behind, climbing over several long leaves - her back end is striped in black, white, & rust red, & 3 of her legs are awkwardly splayed out to support her

Bombus butt (Bombutt? Bumblebum?)

Another queenie clambering awkwardly through the sunflowers, breaking petals & bending leaves as she goes

#dailybee #bcnativebees #bumblebee #nativebees

A black bumblebee with cream & deep orange stripes is sideways in midair between two flowers, her back legs starfished out behind her

Leap into the void

These huge queens have wings but you wouldn’t know it from watching them climb thru the sunflowers & fling themselves from plant to plant

#dailybee #bcnativebees #bombus #nativebees #vancouverisland #nanaimo

A black, blonde & rust red bumble bee is crawling through a sunflower, using the petals like a climbing structure

2 different species of bumble queens out & about - they are so clumsy!

They’re freaking huge & flowers just collapse under them, but they also just can’t seem to travel or land without a lot of scrabbling & clambering & clinging to petals

#dailybee #bcnativebees
#bumblebees

A round ball of a bumble bee sits upside down at the centre of a many-petaled yellow calendula. The bee is a striking combination of white, black, & rust red

Bombus vancouverensis vancouverensis aka Vancouver Island Bumblebee

Another massive, clumsy bumble queen, w/ a stunning colour palette & patterns

#dailybee #bcnativebees #bumblebees #vancouverisland #nanaimo #pollinators

Most of the image is taken up by a golden yellow calendula blossom lit up by the midday sun, and in the centre of the flower is a shimmery metallic emerald green bee.

Have ‘Isn’t She Lovely’ in my head all the time when going through bee pics

It’s always true tho, just look at her

& she might be one minute old, I wouldn’t know

#dailybee #bcnativebees #nativebees #pollinators #nanaimo #vancouverisland #sweatbee

A shimmering metallic emerald green bee is seen from above as she perches in the orange centre of a light purple aster blossom. She has her legs splayed out to the sides for balance, her wings are up & her body is bent at the waist & the neck, & her shadow is being cast on the petals beside her. These elements together make a pleasing composition.

The compelling geometry of legs & petals & shadows & wings & antennae

Green metallic sweat bee female on Douglas aster/Agapostemon on Symphyotrichum subspicatum

#dailybee #bcnativebees #nativebees #pnwnativeplants #nativeplants #pollinators #pollinatorgarden

A large dark bee is looking unconcerned while foraging in an orange calendula blossom, meanwhile a striped bee a third her size is just about to pounce on her from above

Emphasizing the size dif btwn leaf cutter female & green sweat bee male

In last post the little guy just flies straight into the huge lady, full speed bonk

Those dudes are fearless & relentless patrolling ‘their’ flowers

#bcnativebees #dailybee #nativebees #pollinators #nanaimo #beesbehavingbadly

Green metallic sweat bee males’ main job seems to be annoying other bees into leaving ‘their’ territory

Poor leafcutter lady never gets a moment’s peace

#beesbehavingbadly #dailybee #bcnativebees #nativebees #pollinatorgarden #urbangardening #vancouverisland

These ladies never seem to catch a break

Female Leafcutter ambushed by male Leafcutter hoping to create some
baby Leafcutters

Megachile on Helianthus maximilliani

#dailybee #bcnativebees #pollinators #nativebees #leafcutterbees #nanaimo #urbangardening

At the bottom of a golden yellow composite flower, an emerald green metallic bee is lit from behind, & casting a distinct shadow of herself on the petals

Bee & my shadow

Agapostemon/metallic green sweat bee lady on Maximillian sunflower preening in the midday sun

#dailybee #bcnativebees #pollinatorgarden #urbangarden #beegarden #nativebees #nativeplants

In the bottom of a golden yellow sunflower, a female leaf cutter bee is foraging, her wings out to either side, & her abdomen covered with orange pollen. To her left, a pair of red & white crab spider legs are juuuuust peeking out from between the petals

One leaf cutter bee, & one set of sneaky crab spider claws

On Maximillian sunflower

#dailybee #bcnativebees #nativebees #pollinators #pollinatorgarden #crabspider #megachile

A large black bee trimmed with blonde fur is perched on a light purple aster flower. She is extremely round, and is covering up most of the blossom with her body. She’s also carrying a load of orange pollen in the hairs under her abdomen.

Some of these leaf cutter ladies are real honkin chonkers

Giant Megachile on average sized Douglas aster

#dailybee #bcnativebees #nativebees #nativeplants #pnwnativeplants

A shaggy bee seen in profile while perched on the yellow centre of a purple aster blossom. She has shaggy pants full of orange pollen on her back legs & her segmented antennae are pointing down into the flower.

2025 Melissodes on Douglas aster

#dailybee #bcnativebees #nativebees #vancouverisland #nanaimo #nativeplants #pollinators #urbangardening

We are right up inside a bright golden flower, and in the middle is a bee looking straight at us with one big spotted blue eye. She is peeking at us from over the edge of a flower petal, and has her front foot propped up on the edge.

Sometimes finding new bee pics to post is beyond my abilities for the day, so how about this blue-eyed gem again

Melissodes/long-horned lady, summer 2024

#dailybee #bcnativebees #nativebees #nanaimo

Super close up of a leaf cutter bee inside a sunflower blossom. She has a dark body with silvery-blonde hairs, a striped abdomen with orange pollen-carrying hairs on its underside, and a large glossy black eye.

Megachile female from 2023 before I had a camera - iPhone macro lens is pretty good actually

Only downside is having to stick my phone a cm from their face, only practical on cold mornings before they’re able to escape me

Leaf cutter in Maximillian sunflower

#dailybee #bcnativebees #nativebees

An extremely cute grey & black bee with huge spotted grey-green eyes is perched in the centre on top of a purple and orange aster flower.

Bees are just so flipping cute it’s hard for me to deal sometimes

Leafcutter male on Aster/Megachile on Symphyotrichum subspicatum, 2024

#dailybee #bcnativebees #nativebees #nativeplants #megachile #vancouverisland #nanaimo

I think about what it might be like to operate at this speed & live for only a couple weeks

Their world is queererer than we can suppose, etc

Melissodes/long-horned bee lady on Grindelia

#dailybee #bcnativebees #nativebees #nativepollinators #nativeplants #grindelia #melissodes #vancouverisland

A black & white/pale yellow bumblebee is hanging off the inside of a bright yellow flower while it drinks nectar. Its 4 back legs are spread out in all directions & bracing against the petals. Her wings have come together into an oval in the middle of her back, highlighting the linework patterns of veins. The back end of the oval is ragged & torn & barely visible, indicating that the bee is getting on in bee years.

I’m mesmerized by how this starfish has overlapped her wings across her back; venation creating sharp, clear linear patterns that then fade into raggedness at the ends

Yellow-faced bumblebee/Bombus vosnesenskii on perennial/Maximillian sunflower

#dailybee #bcnativebees #nativebees #pollinators

In the flat bottom of a yellow composite flower, a dark bee with big black eyes and light stripes on her abdomen is foraging with her wings and back end in the air.

Megachile fidelis, pretty sure

All the leaf cutters are such a joy to look at

Female, on Grindelia/gumweed
July 2025

#dailybee #bcnativebees #nativebees #nativeplants #grindelia #nativebeesnothoneybees #vancouverisland #nanaimo

A bright metallic emerald green bee with orange pollen on her legs is foraging in a yellow composite flower. Above her, in silhouette, a male of her species is diving through the air straight towards her

These green metallic sweat bee dudes are so tenacious

Especially in late afternoon, the ladies can’t spend 5 second foraging without some dingdong appearing out of nowhere (shazam!)

Agapostemon on Grindelia
#dailybee #bcnativebees #nativebees #nativeplants #bcnativeplants #vancouverisland

A brownish bee is inside a bright yellow flower; she has her back to us, looking almost like she’s standing up on her back legs, and she has her front 4 legs extended up in the air

I save pics like this in an album called ‘starfish’

Lady long-horned bee/Melissodes in Grindelia/gumweed, 2024

#dailybee #bcnativebees #nativebees #nativeplants #grindelia #melissodes #longhornedbee #vancouverisland

A large grey & black bee is launching herself into the air from a yellow composite flower. She has an extremely long, tapered abdomen that ends in a wicked-looking point

Sharp-tailed bee/Coelioxys

She’s a kleptoparasite on leaf-cutter bees & uses that tail to punch a hole in the leaf-lined egg cell & lay her own egg inside

Then her bebe kills any other eggs/larvae & gobbles up all the pollen stores

#dailybee #bcnativebees #nativebees #grindelia #nativeplants

In the middle of a light purple aster flower, a blonde, black, & red bumblebee has its back to us and is sticking its two middle legs straight up in the air like it is about to ‘we’re not worthy’ the plant

Bombus vancouverensis vancouverensis (Vancouver Island Bumblebee) doing some kind of aster worship

#bcnativebees #dailybee #bombus #bumblebee #nativeplants #nativebees

A dark brown bee with white stripes on her abdomen is foraging in the bottom of a yellow composite flower, legs splayed to the side for purchase. Her two back legs are covered in long, blonde, silky looking fur

Don’t often get to see these ladies w/ out pollen in their pollen pants- they really do look like fun fur leg warmers worn to a rave in 2002

Melissodes/ long-horned bee in Grindelia

#dailybee #bcnativebees #grindelia #nativebees #nativeplants #nativebeesnothoneybeez

A blonde & brown fluffy bee is half hidden in a yellow flower- she appears to be peeking at the camera over the edge of a petal with one large blue & grey spotted eye.

I feel like half my photos are bees peeking out over the top of flowers, judging me for being a creep

Long-horned bee/Melissodes lady on Grindelia

#dailybee #bcnativebees #melissodes #longhornedbee #grindelia #nativeplants #pollinators #nativebees #nativebeesnothoneybees

A light purple aster blossom is in the foreground; just about to pass behind it is a stocky dark bee with fluffy white body fur and orange pollen carrying hairs on her underbelly. She appears to be looking right at the camera with a large matte black eye

Late summer is Megachile time

My fave charismatic chunky-fauna are these leafcutters

#dailybee #bcnativebees #megachile #leafcutterbees #douglasaster