Buzzy Bee at work

The other day, I was working in one of "my" gardens when I heard a lot of intermittent buzzing.

"What's going on?" I wondered. 

Bees  - along with hover-flies, wasps, and many other pollinating insects - usually buzz continuously, not in short bursts. Or so I thought!

Moving closer, I found the culprit on one of the many Poppies, which are making a terrific show this year.  It was a bee - and I shall call it a Bumble Bee because it was Bumbling its way around the stamens - hard at work.

 

 

 Can you see it?

Not the best of photos, but then, I am a gardener, not a photographer: and when I do take photos, they are hasty snaps with my camera-phone. 

I was so intrigued by what he was up to, that I tilted the flower up towards the light (so that I could see it better) and to my surprise, he continued bumbling, at high speed, taking no notice of me, whatsoever.

I wanted to share this activity with the garden owner, who loves bees: so I thought I'd try taking a video of it.

This was moderately successful: it wanders in and out of focus a bit, because it's only a phone, and you can see where, a few seconds in, I took hold of the petals to steady the flower. 

Here's the result, what do you think?

Active little fellows, aren't they?

So next time you hear sporadic buzzing, from inside a large flower, this is probably what's going on!

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