Saturday Morning With Jack Tame

Air traffic Control  Heading towards summer there are soooo many shrubs, climbers and trees in flower, luring in pollinators and other organisms, interested in the protein of pollen and the carbohydrates of nectar. On some plants it simply is great entertainment to just sit or stand still and watch what flies there. And it all flies there without air traffic control!  Pohutukawa and some of the rata species flower around Christmas and they’re usually very busy indeed.  The usual suspects: honey bees (Apis mellifera) and at least two species of bumble bees: the common, large earth bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) and the large Garden bumble bee (Bombus ruderatus). Their ideas are to gather nectar (it is merely sugar water, a quick energy fix with a kick) for energy and to store it as honey in the nest. They also collect pollen which is fed to the larvae (for growth)  The often unseen bees: Our native bee species (27 different species in all)! They tend to be small. Most species are so-called “solitary” bees; a pa