Flight of the Bumblebee

There are over 250 species in the genus Bombus which we know as Bumblebees.  Charles Darwin called them the Humble Bee in his major work, "On the Origin of Species."  The name "Bombus" is from the Latin for "buzzing" or "booming."

In the Walt Disney film, "Fantasia", we hear the "Flight of the Bumblebee" which was an orchestral interlude composed around 1900 by Nickolai Rimsky-Korsakov for the opera, "The Tale of Tsar Saltan" in a representation of the turning of Prince Guidon into a bumblebee so he could visit his father, Tsar Saltan.

They are important pollinators and sometimes raised domestically for the pollination of tomatoes grown in greenhouses.  Unlike honeybees, bumblebees can sting repeatedly because their stinger is not barbed and can slide in and out of their victim without injuring themselves.  They are not usually aggressive however and rarely sting unless being tormented or disturbed.

Yesterday we had an unwanted visitor to our corner of Texas -- a skunk.  It was down by the pond, and I took steps to discourage it from exploring further for fear that our canine watchdog, who really only watches for an opportunity to be petted, spotted the small black-and-white critter and went to introduce himself.  Fortunately for all, that was accomplished and the discouraged visitor headed across the road and disappeared into the thickets of a nearby creek bottom.

I walked down to check and be certain that he was gone and in doing so noticed a couple of large thistles that had grown near the edge of our property and investigated.  There, in the top of the largest flower, at the top of the largest thistle, were two Bumblebees.  One was headfirst buried into the heart of the blossom while the other walked frustratedly around the rim of the flower seemingly awaiting his turn to partake of the nectar.  It was obviously a Kodak moment.

Now I must decide whether to allow the thistles to remain for a while or to remove them.  I think a compromise of a few days is in order.  It's good to see the bees thriving.

(For more information see "Bumblebee" at Wikipedia from which a portion of the above information was found.)