Author Gary Taylor ◦
Like little jewels coming out of the ground… From the very brief vid you’d reckon I was in some kind of tiny native stingless bee swarm, and you’d be half right… they are native bees and they are tiny… But no, this is just regular peak hour traffic (which runs from just after sun-up, to just before sundown 😄) at the Lasioglossum (Homalictus) perhapsus urbanus digs. They’re a semi social solitary bee… So what does that mean, ok, so it’s like a whole bunch of chicks get together on a hens night and decide to build an underground city where any girl willing to pitch in and help will have her own private room (with space to excavate her own nursery…) and the comfort of friendship, and it works perfectly… The blokes meanwhile are camping out at night in the cold wind, hangin’ off grass stems and twigs by their teeth… 😄 Right now any female reading this has the right to think men are stupid, and collectively I have to agree, but being one, in my/our defence, a house full of pregnant women OR chuckin’ your swag down in the peace of the beautiful wide open outback… Nah, swag on the ground is gonna win every time 😅 But back to the pics, first pic after the vid, not great but it does show the yellow undersides… That’s pollen, like Megachile bees they collect it under their abdomen rather than on their legs, yellow means they’re coming home, white means they’re leaving for another load. And the smarter ones out there may be thinkin’ the 3rd and 4th pics look awfully similar… Yup, they do, but that’s intentional, if you click on one pic and then click or arrow from one to the other you can see the way she looks around before leaving 😃
And the last pic not just for scale but awareness, this is just one of many tiny little holes in the immediate area, each housing a multitude of bees, their nests barely wider than the thickness of a 5 cent coin… And all in an area “swept clean” for outdoor food preparation… Sure, keep it tidy but not every little hole in the ground is an ant hole that needs to be poisoned in case they strip you not only of your wealth but your inner soul… Just sayin’ 😅
Geraldton, Midwest WA © Gary Taylor
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