Hardy Bees

 THIS IS THE BLOG POST FOR MONDAY, APRIL 30, 2018. I lost track of the time as the pictures were loading, which is pathetic, given the small number of pictures. But they didn't load well, so it took forever.

I don't think I remembered to mention this last week, probably because on the day in question I didn't write a blog, but last Friday I had to go for a walk to run an errand, and on my way home it was pouring rain. When I got home I decided to go in through the back door because I didn't want to annoy the robin that was acting kind of territorial about the front porch (no sign that they are actually using that nest, though), and on my way through the backyard in the pouring rain I saw a bumblebee bobbing along. I couldn't believe that it was out there flying in a downpour. It wasn't even in a part of the yard where anything is blooming yet. I don't know why it was out there, but I was impressed with its hardiness. I was impressed with the hardiness of bumblebees again today; it was cold out again (in the 50s), and gloomy, and the only bees that were out working the flowers were the bumblebees. There were quite a few bumblebees buzzing around in the rock garden, feeding on the creeping myrtle flowers. I didn't see any other species of bees there, or on any other kind of flower blooming in my backyard at the moment. I didn't get any pictures of the bumblebees because they were too busy; in the fall on cool days they are very sluggish, but that's not the case at the moment.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 Crane fly. This is the first one I have seen this spring.

Other Bugs:

 I think this is a rove beetle.