Bug Squad
Article

Blue Day for the Bees

It's a blue day for the honey bees.

The massive Northern California storm--one of our worst-ever storms and marked by heavy rains and equally strong winds--means that bees are clustering inside their hives.

No foraging today.

Just last Sunday we saw honey bees nectaring blue marguerite daisy (Felicia amelloides), a colorful member of the sunflower family (Asteraceae). A native of South Africa, the marguerite daisy blooms through October.

This bee was quite old (notice the lack of hair on her thorax).

Today she's inside.

Out of the rain.