High-Wire Act

Submitted by szgarvey on

It's like going to the circus.

A bee circus.

When you see honey bees gather pollen from a gaura (Gaura linheimeri), it's as if  they ran off and joined the circus. You'll see hire-wire (er...high-stem) acts, somersaults, pirouettes, cartwheels and cliffhangers.

They teeter on the edge of a petal and then petal-push to the other side. They buzz upside down and then right themselves.  They're under the Big Top and then varoom, they've over it.

The gaura, a leggy perennial, is a native of North America and a member of the Onagraceae family. Its butterflylike flowers, pink and white, are drop-dead gorgeous.

The gaura is also known as "the wand flower," "the butterfly bush" and "the bee blossom." 


Source URL: https://class.ucanr.edu/blog/bug-squad/article/high-wire-act