That Time of Year

I hate bees. I hate anything that resembles them, too: wasps, hornets, yellow-jackets, and those flies that look like bees as a defense mechanism. So although spring brings with it beautiful flowers, warm breezes, and opportunities to enjoy a "cuppa" on the outdoor patio, I still find part of myself loathing the coming of warmer months. Over the weekend I noticed a growing number of these buzzing insects excitedly perusing our front yard trees. The fuzzy bits on the branches were evidently attracting them, and they were giving in to the call. Once they loaded up with pollen, though, they had a hard time flying. They were dive-bombing our porch railing, scaring the heck out of me as they did so. I was trying to enjoy a brownie with my husband, but drunken bees kind of put a stop to that! I did finally manage to get up enough nerve to snap a couple of pictures of the pollen-laden insects. Here is one, who was trying to clean himself, but was so overwhelmed with the pollen (the orange bits on his legs) that he kept falling over. A larger view of this image reveals stunning details on the bee, and I really enjoyed examining the photo...from the safety of my dining room.