Honeybees spelunk in aloe flowers

April 30, 2013


The life of a garden is sometimes better revealed in close-up views. Take these honeybees, for example. They love the candelabra-like flowers of Aloe maculata, formerly A. saponaria.


When the tubular blossoms open, bees converge to spelunk the depths.


Completely hidden inside the tubes, the bees disappear and you’d never know they were there—until a bee bottom suddenly emerges, dusted with rosy pollen. Her pollen baskets are rosy-hued too.


Collecting every last bit


Viewing from a distance, you’d never know about all the bee activity going on here.


Then again these blooms do look like a party.

You’re Invited!
I’ll be at BookPeople on Saturday, May 4, at 4 pm , along with author Jenny Peterson, to talk briefly about design tips for losing the lawn or paring it back. Jenny will be sharing styling tips for houseplants. And we newbie authors will BOTH be signing copies of our books! Whether you have a green thumb or a brown one, let’s fill up BookPeople with people who care about plants and the earth!

The talk is free and open to the public, and I’d love to see a lot of friendly faces! If you do want an autographed book, BookPeople requires an in-store purchase. Just FYI.

All material © 2006-2013 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

2nd garden--2013, Aloes, Bees, Xeric plants

6 responses to “Honeybees spelunk in aloe flowers”

  1. commonweeder says:
    April 30, 2013 at 8:39 AM

    I keep adding a plant or two each year to attract pollinatores – not hard to do. I’ve got agastache down in the vegetable garden along with bee balm. My vegetables are well pollinated. BTW – I brought your book to a Reduce Your LAwn presentation last week and it was a big hit! People took down the title. And author.

  2. MissingHenryMitchell says:
    April 30, 2013 at 8:52 AM

    Fantastic photos, Pam! Bees are indeed fascinating to watch. Glad to know this magnificent architectural plant is such a pollinator magnet.

  3. Jenny says:
    April 30, 2013 at 5:26 PM

    How lovely that they all flowered in unison. They make a fine show.

  4. Bernieh says:
    April 30, 2013 at 6:56 PM

    Fabulous photos. It’s true though … you’d never know just how busy the bees are in the garden sometimes unless you step closer and take a good look.

  5. Lisa at Greenbow says:
    May 1, 2013 at 7:09 AM

    What sweet photos of the bee and the bloom.

  6. ricki says:
    May 1, 2013 at 1:40 PM

    Spelunking bees: what a fun image!