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

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 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

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

Wide shot of a yellow composite flower & 3 bees. Inside the flower one bee with poofy pollen legs is being antagonized by a green, yellow & black bee, while a dark leafcutter bee is flying across the foreground

Triple bee encounter

Lady long-horned w/ massive pollen leggings & male green metallic sweat bee stirring shit up as usual

Female leafcutter w/ orange pollen belly getting out of this situation

Megachile, Melissodes, & Agapostemon on Grindelia

#dailybee #bcnativebees #nativebees #grindelia

In the bottom of a bright yellow composite flower, a stocky bee is taking a nectar break. They have distinctive black stripes on their abdomen, a large head relative to their body & their face is a bit wasp-like in appearance.

Dianthidium, or pebble bee- hoping it’s D. subparvum, a gumweed/Grindelia specialist & an imperiled species

Plant more native plants! So many organisms rely on a narrow range of local plants for food, shelter, & reproduction

#dailybee #bcnativebees #dianthidium #grindelia #nativeplants

Against a dark background, a brown bee with stripes of white fur on her abdomen is foraging on the flat bottom of a yellow composite flower. While her upper body is parallel with the bottom of the flower, she’s lifted her whole tail end straight up in the air, making nearly a 90 degree bend at her waist.

Mason bees also carry pollen on their underbelly, but I only ever see Leafcutters do this BBL (bee butt lift)

It’s pretty impressive, she’s close to 90 degrees here

Megachile on Grindelia/leaf cutter female on pacific gumweed

#dailybee #bcnativebees #grindelia #nativeplants #grindelia #megachile

A goofy looking bee is drinking nectar in the bottom of a yellow composite flower. He’s got large blue eyes, tufts of fur on his body spotted with clumps of pollen, and under a bushy blonde mustache his tongue is extended into the flower below. Most striking of all are his disproportionately long antennae sticking into the air, looking like they belong to a much larger bee.

Mr “I thought I ordered the large (antennae)” Melissodes

On Grindelia, my favourite plant/all around weirdo

#dailybee #bcnativebees #melissodes #grindelia #longhornedbees

A roundish fluffy bee standing at the bottom of a yellow composite flower collecting pollen. She has large blue eyes, white fur on her face, and her back leg hairs are stuffed with bright orange pollen.

Lady long-horned bees collecting pollen in the Grindelia to add to her already impressive pantaloons.

Melissodes females are some of my favourite bees, they just look like they’d give a great cuddle.

July 6.25
#bcnativebees #melissodes #dailybee #longhornedbee #grindelia #nanaimo

In the bottom of the yellow composite flower two bees are foraging. They are dark with whitish-cream fur and blue eyes. The female bee on the right has two of her legs extended out to prevent the male beside her from getting too close.

One of my favourite flowers w/ some of my favourite bees.

Melissodes (long-horned) bees on Grindelia. Male L, female R.

They like their personal space & are often seen keeping other bees at leg’s distance.

#dailybee #bcnativebees #melissodes #grindelia