Covered in bees!

(Why yes, I am a fan of Eddie Izzard...)

The only place in my garden that attracts bees at the moment is a monstrous pyrocantha that hums like a hive in the sunlight but is too tall for me to get photos. However here are some other bee pics from last year:

This, I think, is a red mason bee, taken in late March last year. I have some red mason bee cocoons coming next spring to release into my garden, so I need to plant some spring flowers for them!

   

And from July last year, a honeybee on viper's bugloss - I just planted a couple of these wildflowers in my front garden.

   

Both taken with an iPhone 7 Plus, using the Camera+ app's macro function.

Viper's bugloss flowers are such an interesting colour. The bees in our garden are at the moment loving the comfrey, echium blue bedder (annual version of viper's bugloss), geraniums, thyme and sage.

Wow, I love the colour on that viper's bugloss! Gorgeous!

Viper's bugloss flowers are such an interesting colour. The bees in our garden are at the moment loving the comfrey, echium blue bedder (annual version of viper's bugloss), geraniums, thyme and sage.

It is, isn't it? I especially love the weird "snake head" structure below the flowers, which is presumably where it gets its name. Blue bedder is very pretty - I ordered Echium vulgare because it grows wild in these parts - my photo was taken on the campus where I work, on a patch of rough open ground where construction vehicles had disturbed the soil (or perhaps brought the seeds with them?).

The Echium is in a bed with dwarf lavender "Thumbelina Leigh" and Salvia nemorosa "Caradonna", to which I'll be adding hardy geranium "Rozanne" when it arrives - should keep the bees happy once the pyrocantha has finished flowering!

More bees - though not such good photos this time

My little squash plant's huge flowers are a big hit with the bees - so much so that they get absolutely covered in pollen!

   

Before I fetched my phone, I saw one cleaning herself off so she could actually fly - alas all I have on camera is the evidence she left behind