Busy as... (Guess!)

I began this post way back on May 5 -- how things can change in a month!  Since then, summer has come blasting in and the hills have all turned from green to gold   So here is a flashback to late spring...

This winter's heavy rains gave us much-needed water, but we're now surrounded by miles of tall grass and brush.  As another fire season approaches, everyone's out with their whining weed-wackers, rumbling mowers, and buzzing chain saws working to clear out as much vegetation as possible. It's a noisy time.

Several mornings last week I heard a steady, droning hum every time I stepped out on the small deck outside our bedroom. I peered through the branches of our tupelo tree try to spot the person and machine that was putting out this industrious sound. But there was nothing going on anywhere in our little valley.  

After several days of mild curiosity about this sound that I only heard when standing on our back deck, I thought to look up.  And there, right above my head, were the noisy workers I'd been searching for -- all several thousand of them, enthusiastically pollinating the tupelo's flower clusters.  

I must add that I went through the exact same process of puzzlement and eventual discovery when the bees confused me in exactly the same way last spring.  We'll see what happens next year.

I hope this video works.  You can actually hear the buzzing.