Birds and the Bees

I spent a good chunk of yesterday moving my photblind to a new location on the ranch. I was evicted from my spot in the garden because this year they are planting a garden there. Who da figured after three years of photographing there they would plant a garden! It's a great spot with rich soil and a lot of sun so it's a nice spot for a veggie garden. I moved uphill near the barn where there is still good morning light and a good dark background of trees and shadow. Before I moved I spent some time photographing some Acorn Woodpeckers and a really cool swarm of bees. A swarm of bees settled into a Madrone tree right next to the main road going by the ranch. It's a weird spot because it's not a a hollow or place you would expect bees to set up housekeeping.It's just in the branches. I 'm not sure how long they are going to stay there so I figured I had better photograph them while I can.They will probably move to a tree hollow or knothole once scout bees have found one. The swarm is about the size of a rugby ball. You can walk right up to it and the bees are pretty calm about it. Bees often times swarm in the springtime when the hive starts getting too crowded. The old queen will leave with roughly sixty percent of the worker bees. She will leave the old hive behind with one of the new queens that have hatched out to run. Swarms can contain thousands to tens of thousands of bees. I haven't a clue as to how many bees are in the swarm out at the ranch. I would just say it is in the thousands. A very interesting day. God's light and love to all, chris