Yellow bee

A bee covered in pollen buzzes frantically from flower to flower in a patch of firewheel a.k.a Indian blanket (Gaillardia pulchella).

Robber fly waits

While surveying the side yard garden, I spotted a robber fly sitting on a sunflower leaf. A speck of yellow pollen behind the predatory insect shows a sense of scale.

More than a drink

As a bee drinks nectar from a wine cup blossom, large white granules of pollen stick to her back.

Pollen bee

A bee speckled with pollen approaches a wildflower.

Broccoli bee

A bee, legs laden with pollen, hovers near a cluster of broccoli blossoms in search of food.

Bee on snapdragon

While tending to the pollinator garden at Gardens at Gus Garcia, about a dozen bees hovered around the snapdragons. Bees loaded with pollen are such a joy to see up close. Tillery Plant Co. regularly donates their surplus plants to help keep the garden in bloom.

Sunflower spills pollen

Sunflowers sometimes overflow with pollen.