Those are some funny looking Honey Bees

Hello all,

Today is an appreciation post for the helpful insects that sometimes get overlooked. Today I walked out to my backyard apiary, and as I was watching the girls come and go something caught my eye. So today’s post will be honey bee adjacent.

I have an arbor that sits in front of the gate to my apiary. While watching one of the girls collecting pollen and nectar from some flowers in the apiary I noticed something moving out of the corner of my eye.

This is the first time I have caught praying mantis babies hatching out of their nest. They are very cool insects, in fact as an 8 year old boy I had a praying mantis as a pet one summer. I would capture grasshoppers and crickets to feed it from the back yard. I would also let it out to walk around on my hand. Yes I have been interested in insects as long as I can remember. I used to hunt for them under rocks and tress as a kid and was just intrigued by them. I assume that is why today I have 10’s of 1,000’s of insects homed in my back yard today.

I apologize for the background noise in this short video, my neighbor is doing work on his house, but that is also part of life.

I wanted to post this today, to remind us all that nature is an amazing thing. The more we embrace her, the more she brings to us. So build out your gardens, convert grass to clover, find space to supply water and food for nature and she will reward you. A healthy yard is a yard full of life.

Enjoy the beautiful weather, and don’t forget to take time to notice all the life that surrounds us.

Tim