Bumblebees, Bee Balm and a Rabbit ...

Starting to bloom this week were Slender Mountain Mint and Bee Balm.  Lots of bumblebees!

Our Slender Mountain Mint is blooming and attracts a wide array of pollinators, including bumblebees.

 

I have seen several swallowtails this week ...  a few zebra swallowtails.  We have lots of pawpaw trees which is the primary food source for their caterpillars. 

 

And finally, we have lots of rabbits on our farm and in our yard.  The one below almost ran into me while I was taking pictures of bees today.  Also a picture of true love!

We had a good rain yesterday and last night, over an inch.  Our seven acre pollinator wildflower field is doing well.  We checked it this evening and saw a Monarch on some nearby milkweeds.

Bee balm, Common Milkweed and Dragonflies

Wildflower Update:  This week common milkweed, bee balm, slender mountain mint and purple conflowers began blooming.  Butterfly weed is in full bloom.  Below, two species of bumblebees and a hummingbird clearwing moth.  Above, a dragonfly feeding on a swallowtail butterfly.

 

Pollinators and Wildlife:  I saw four fawns this morning while bush-hogging.  I do not have a cab on our tractor and can see them moving through the vegetation when I get close to them.  They were all very small and hardly able to walk/run.  I saw four Monarchs on Saturday.  Three were flying around above one of the large milkweed colonies on our farm near Long Creek.
Below ... Swallowtails are more frequent this week as the Great Spangled Fritillariy population has gone down.  We have thousands of fireflies this week near dusk.

Work on the Farm: I am still bush-hogging and maintaining our 50 or so large milkweed colonies.


We support:
Round House, Jeans and Workware, Made in the USA for 112 years.
http://www.round-house.com/
Red Pig Tools, Garden tools, Made in the USA.
http://www.redpigtools.com/servlet/StoreFront
FEDCO, Co-op Garden Supplies, Seeds, Trees and Bulbs
http://www.fedcoseeds.com/
Johnny's Selected Seeds and Garden Tools
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/
Roundstone Native Seed ... A Kentucky Company!
https://www.roundstoneseed.com/
Prairie Moon Nursery, Native Seeds and Plants
https://www.prairiemoon.com/
Kelley's Beeskeeping ... A Kentucky Company! ... at least for now.
http://www.kelleybees.com/
and these organizations ...
Xerces Society
Journey North
Monarch Watch
Firefly Watch - Museum of Science, Boston
Sierra Club

Tennessee coneflowers and bumblebees

We have hundreds of bumblebees working the hairy vetch, musk thistle, dutch white clover and milkweeds.  I am not a bumblebee expert by most seem to be Common eastern bumble bees (Bombus impatiens, below).  However, working the hairy vetch are large bumblebees with second and third segments being yellow.  I do not have a good picture of one yet since they as they are always hanging upside down on the vetch blooms ... maybe B. pennsylvanicus / not pictured ... yet.

We still have dozens of fritillaries visiting our milkweed colonies.

Our rattlesnake master plants are about to bloom (below).

We have seen a few Monarchs around our many milkweed colonies but, only one each time.

We have several areas where we have planted Tennessee coneflowers and they are blooming now but, do not draw many pollinators.

I am trying to get ahead on the bushhogging since school is out for the summer.  Our seven acre wildflower/pollinator field we planted last month looks good with the partridge peas up about 3 inches.

We support:
Round House, Jeans and Workware, Made in the USA for 112 years.
http://www.round-house.com/
Red Pig Tools, Garden tools, Made in the USA.
http://www.redpigtools.com/servlet/StoreFront
FEDCO, Co-op Garden Supplies, Seeds, Trees and Bulbs
http://www.fedcoseeds.com/
Johnny's Selected Seeds and Garden Tools
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/
Roundstone Native Seed ... A Kentucky Company!
https://www.roundstoneseed.com/
Prairie Moon Nursery, Native Seeds and Plants
https://www.prairiemoon.com/
Kelley's Beeskeeping ... A Kentucky Company! ... at least for now.
http://www.kelleybees.com/
and these organizations ...
Xerces Society
Journey North
Monarch Watch
Firefly Watch - Museum of Science, Boston
Sierra Club