Have you got milkweeds around? If not, why not? Have you ever noticed how many insects they attract? Finally, have you ever noticed some of these insects dangling lifelessly from the milkweed’s flowers? Ever wonder why? (I hadn’t, until recently….)
The bumblebee feeding on the Common Milkweed flower is fine. But check out the smaller bee behind it.
This bee’s in trouble….or was. See story for details. Your new word for the day is “pollinia”.
The sordid story is here, along with a lot of cool things about this plant (and why you should have some).
We don’t have nearly as many milkweeds in bloom this year. The heat and drought have really hurt their blooms.
Are you seeing any Monarchs, Henry? We’re not.