Love affair

Lots of people already know that I have a deep and abiding love affair with bees - and not just any old bee at that.

I adore native bees - whether they are in USA, or Australia, Europe or any where else.

I haven't seen any of our very spectacular blue banded bees yet this season, but it's early days.

What I did see today was this tiny native bee, gathering pollen.

What they do is spread their back legs very wide, and use their front pair of legs to gather the pollen and store it amongst the hairs on their abdomen and legs. They are solitary bees, which means all they are doing is gathering food for their young - they do not make honey, and they do not live in a colony.

If you have a look in large you can see quite a bit of detail. Native bees are essential for pollination, and with hive collapse happening all over the world (except in Australia, and possibly New Zealand), we are very dependent on these little fellows for all our crops and flowers.

Spraying programs decimate populations which is a crying shame.