Bumblebees pollinating Boulder raspberry- Rubus deliciosusIn Crestone, Colorado at 8,500′ Just as we gather berries in a basket, bees gather pollen and nectar in their own specialized pollen baskets. On bumblebees these are called curbiculae. The curbiculae, or...
Early this week the native gooseberry began to bloom. Immediately the shrubs were filled with pollinators including native bees (Osmia spp., and Anthophora spp.), syrphid flies, flies, and butterflies (thicket hairstreak, Milbert’s tortoiseshell, hoary comma)....