Tag Archives: pollination
Butterfly School at Monarch Watch Fall 2009 Open House
One of the highlights of the annual fall open house at Monarch Watch is Butterfly School, in which Chip Taylor, founder and director of Monarch Watch, demonstrates how to catch, hold, tag and release a Monarch butterfly before it begins … Continue reading
Filed under Animals, Biology, Butterflies, Conservation, Entomology, Gardening, Insects, Kansas, Life, Natural History, Nature, New Zealand, Personal, Science, University of Kansas
Saving Bees
My garden is a hang-out for bees of all kinds — honey bees, native bees, carpenter bees. I love watching them going about their business and am glad to help out keeping them fed. Bees are important pollinators. Pollination is essential for … Continue reading
Filed under Agriculture, Biology, Entomology, Environment, Gardening, Insects, Life, Nature, Science
Leaf Cutter Bees
Old cedar planks drilled with rows of small holes lean against Jackie G.’s garage in a Kansas City suburb. Leaf cutter bees come and go from the holes, where they have built nests using bits of leaves and petals they have cut from nearby plants. … Continue reading
Filed under Entomology, Gardening, Insects, Kansas, Kansas City, Life, Natural History, Nature, Personal
Life and Death in the Garden
A crab spider grabbed a honey bee that visited a common milkweed flower. In the Midwest, Master Gardener J. G. has planted a complete banquet for pollinating insects, such as bees and butterflies. There are plants for all stages in an … Continue reading
Filed under Biology, Butterflies, Conservation, Education, Entomology, Environment, Gardening, Insects, Kansas, Life, Natural History, Nature, Personal, Photography, Science, University of Kansas
Monarch Watch Spring 2009 Open House
My friend Deb buys some tropical milkweed at the Monarch Watch Spring Open House at the University of Kansas on May 9. Monarch Watch Director Chip Taylor, at left in the yellow hat, and many volunteers were busy as the … Continue reading
Filed under Animals, Butterflies, Conservation, Education, Environment, Food, Gardening, Insects, Kansas, Life, Natural History, Nature, Personal, Photography, Science, University of Kansas
Orange Sulphur Butterfly on a Sunflower
Here’s a bright scene for a cold winter day. An Orange Sulphur butterfly sips nectar from a sunflower in a field in September. The field was mowed a few weeks later, and the remaining short stubble is brown and lifeless, showing no sign of … Continue reading
Filed under Biology, Butterflies, Conservation, Education, Entomology, Environment, Gardening, Insects, Kansas, Life, Natural History, Nature, Personal, Photography, Random, Science, University of Kansas
Honey Bee and Cloudless Sulphur Butterfly
After waiting in vain with my camera for butterflies to pass through my neighborhood a few weeks ago, I went to a very large local nursery that features hundreds of thousands of plants. (It sounds as if I spend way too much time chasing … Continue reading
Filed under Biology, Butterflies, Entomology, Environment, Gardening, Insects, Kansas, Life, Nature, Photography, Random
Batty About Birds, Bees and Butterflies
My enthusiasm for bees sky-rocketed last year when I discovered that I wasn’t getting any squash, because I had no bees to pollinate them. I had to do the job myself with an artist’s paintbrush. My harvest? Ten squash. I’m … Continue reading
Filed under Biology, Bird-watching, Conservation, Education, Entomology, Environment, Gardening, Humor, Insects, Kansas, Life, Natural History, Nature, Photography, Science
Sunflower Season
Kansas is the sunflower state, but we had to go to Oklahoma to find these vast sunflower crop fields (pictured above and at the bottom) near Quapaw in mid-September. Heading south on Highway 69 in Kansas, we passed mile after mile … Continue reading
Filed under Biology, Conservation, Entomology, Environment, Gardening, History, Humor, Insects, Kansas, Life, Natural History, Nature, Personal, Photography, Random, Travel
Cloudless Sulphur Butterflies and Caterpillars
Who doesn’t love a pretty quartet of wings? The flashy appearance of the Monarch butterfly’s brilliant orange and black wings is so perfect for Autumn. And those white polka dots on black? Very stylish and classic. (The design also signals to birds — don’t eat … Continue reading
Filed under Animals, Biology, Conservation, Environment, Gardening, Humor, Insects, Internet, Kansas, Life, Natural History, Nature, Personal, Photography, Random, Science, Uncategorized, University of Kansas
