I was surprised the other morning as I walked around the garden listening and looking to see what the bees were enjoying most this week. Hundreds of bees were leaving and returning to the hive, ignoring the blazing mass of goldenrod, dahlias, coreopsis, and heleniums I have planted, not to mention the masses of wild carrot and thistles which have edged in to take advantage of the new compost.
The blue mist and the sedums down the driveway were happily filled with bumble bees, but not many honeys. When I arrived at the Louisa plum trees the reason was clear, fruit was the breakfast choice. On the tree and on the ground, the overripe and bird-pecked plums were full of bees. Not a wasp in sight, only bees.
I haven’t seen this before, but several things are different this year. We have had unusual cold weather – it’s now been now confirmed that it has been 1 degree colder than the norm this summer. We also have seen none of the Vespula wasps which often infest the area at this time of year. And it’s the first year that the Louisas have had a good crop of fruit.
Later in the day, as C was cooking second breakfast, the bees were having lunch in the asters.
Absent Gardener 
I knew bees would harvest honeydew (sap from aphids) but I didn’t realise they would take fruit.
I didn’t either, although often there are wasps. I have heard that bee keepers are having a bad year because the weather affected the nectar flow early in the summer. So I guess this is part of it.
Plum breakfast and aster lunch… sounds good to me!
Humor aside, it is a bit concerning that the ENTIRE world is experiencing abnormal weather patterns and that precious few politicians seem to want to deal with it. Why would they when their next election is backed by business interests that run contrary to doing something about it? Arrgghh!
These Louisas are the best plums too – almost impossible to eat without getting juice all over you. 🙂
The whole political situation and everything in it is crazy right now, it seems. But I’m not sure that there is a precedent for all people working together to deal with a world wide problem, and it’s frightening to think that we might make the situation worse while trying to fix it.