Honeypots Beauty

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If you've ever spotted a bee completely still inside a flower, you might have wondered if it was dead. Chances are, it was just catching some sleep. When bees get tired, especially after a long day of collecting nectar and pollen, they find a flower and settle in for the night. It's a quieter, softer side to these busy pollinators.

Not all bees sleep in flowers. Honey bees are social creatures that return to their hive to rest. Their sleep isn't like ours. They don't have eyelids, so they can't close their eyes. Instead, they fall asleep on the honeycomb, often with their antennae completely still and their muscles relaxed so much that they sometimes fall over sideways. Other worker bees will even hold onto their legs to keep them from falling off the comb.

But many solitary bees and male bees prefer to sleep in flowers. They'll curl up inside the petals, their bodies motionless, often clinging to the center of the bloom as if it were a bed. One photographer captured two globe mallow bees sharing a single flower, snuggled together as the sun went down. He watched as more bees climbed into nearby blossoms, and even saw one bee, arriving late, squeeze into a flower with another who shifted to make room.

This behavior is most common among male bees. At the end of the season, they are often not welcome in the hive anymore and are pushed out by the females.

Bee sleep is also essential. Older forager bees, which collect nectar and pollen, need their rest to remember where they found the best flowers. Their memory is crucial because they communicate the location of these flowers to the rest of the hive through their famous "waggle dance." Studies have shown that bees who are forced to stay awake become poor dancers, making the entire hive less efficient.

September workshop announcement!

Note: registration will open in the next few days, we will send an email and post again when that is ready!

Nicole Easley Honeypots Beauty Sips and Pips Tarot Steena Fancy Flower Girls Mary Free Time Treasures and Dawn Dawson

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