Photo-a-Day  (Tuesday, 30th April, 2019)

A different photo, very colourful and interesting. Pin sharp.

Nice one Philip.

"If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth Man would have no longer than four years to live".
Albert Einstein
' brace yourself Honey - here I come!'

Lovely photo. I have heard of the flower "Zinnia" but didn't know what it looked like.

Beautiful,flowers do it for me every time..and animals...thank you Phillip.

Thanks Fred. After a bit of searching, I think I've identified the visitor as being the 'Early Bumblebee'.

Every time we see a bee struggling,we have a pot of honey and a stick ready to take to it,they do come round..I don't know for how long though,but as Veronica states we're all doomed without the bees...and boy don't they work hard.

A top notch cut flower, and of long-lasting satin petals on ever-increasing shoots. They need staking, though.

I'm with you there Maureen - I would never swat bees- wasps are another matter! Having been stung on the posterior in a phone box .... The pain, the pain... I couldn't sit down afterwards! Do not like them at all.

Mr Wasp is not one to treat as inferior
As Veronica found out when he attacked her posterior.

Veronica,I don't like wasps either,they're a very angry insect,I was stung once..and nearly was the other day,sat on the garden swing with our cat asleep at the side of me,a wasp was tormenting me to death,all of a sudden the cat leapt up and swiped it,then looked at me as if to say aren't I clever.and then went back to sleep again..me little heroine.

A beautiful flower - I too had heard of the Zinnia but never seen one until today.
My sister is a bee keeper, and I never realised how much work it entails to keep them over the winter period and to nurture them whilst they’re making the honey. I agree with you Veronica, they play a very important part in the balance of the natural world.
A lovely photo Philip, thank you.

I always get Summer's occasional wasp and bees on the inside of my kitchen window. I also stand by the tried and tested method of sending them merrily on their way: Cover with an upturned teacup, give the cup two or three harmless swirls, which lifts the insect from the window, and then slide a stout piece of card (much safer than the thicker coaster) between the cup and window; the card being in contact with cup's rim every moment of the way as it is slid away, at the back door. And they talk about putting a man into Space, eh?

A good post, Pat. And your sister obviously knows her beekeeping.

DTease, It is only the female wasp that stings which isn't I suppose altogether surprising.

The She wasp must have been peeved because I got to use the phone first! I had my revenge a couple of years later when a family of wasps invaded my bird box. I covered myself entirely and sprayed a noxious foam into the round hole made specially for the dear little Blue Tits. I ran like the clappers to watch from my living room window at the angry reactions of the mad wasps. For two days they were still to-ing and fro-ing in an orgy of rage. After a week I knocked the box off the wall and it broke apart. Inside was what looked like egg boxes in the most perfectly symmetrical design I have ever seen. I should really have gone to the Council and asked for pest control. I took a big risk in sorting them out myself. I never forgot that sting on my rear end- it was comparable to a red hot knitting needle piercing my flesh. It certainly made me squirm. The upshot was that the coach I was travelling on was held up whilst the courier (female) took me to the ladies to get the sting out of my behind! For a good couple of hours I could hardly sit still on that coach - worse still everyone knew about it!! The moral of this 'tale end' is do not mess with wasps!

Don’t mess with wasps? Male or female, don’t mess with Veronica folks! She will exterminate you!! Leave Veronica’s derrière well alone.

A whole new meaning to having a 'sting in the tail' Dtease....