The blue bees of Aso
Nature-lovers, you might have caught a story in last week’s Asahi Shimbun about a rare and unusual kind of bee to be found buzzing around Japan, and in particular at the Aso Highland Museum Park, in Kumamoto prefecture.
Though the article seemed to downplay the chances of finding any, we decided to make the trip up into the highlands to the museum anyway, as it lies at the foot of Mount Aso, which is always worth trip, bees or no bees.
Dotted around the museum’s garden, there were patches of flowering basil, and busily buzzing around these bushes were hundreds of insects – including some blue and black striped bees.
As I crouched next to the plant, waiting for an opportune moment to take a snap, with the bees buzzing around my head, it struck how quiet they were. In fact they were barely buzzing at all. Occasionally one would stop and hover in front of my face, as if it were checking me out. This made them seem very friendly, though I may just have been caught up in the moment.
More photos of the unmistakeable blueness can be seen here.
Poor Mari….she’s my favorite. If I ever become a j-pop singer and part of the...
Awesome
August 26th, 2008 at 7:05 pmMt. Aso is a great place for relaxing and taking in nature. Onsen around Aso is white and muddy. Smells ad feels great. Did you eat the raw horse? Good Stuff! I like the mornings especially, cause of the cool air and the scenery is breath taking! My wife and I stayed in a Bed and Breakfast inn and our room was on the second floor. Beutiful view from the balcony. It was located about 15 minutes away from the Krogen Beer factory or maybe not. Forgot the name of the place, but they had sunflowers that were big and well . . .. great memories.
August 26th, 2008 at 10:58 pmIf you are heading to the Mt. Aso area, I recommend checking out Kurokawa onsen. You can buy a wooden ticket which allows access to three baths at any of their 25 rotemburo. It is really a neat area and the onsen were very relaxing.
August 27th, 2008 at 3:20 amexcellent pictures, overoften at his best again… remora will like the pictures of the flowers….
robin
August 27th, 2008 at 5:57 amI spent a bit of time looking..but it is very ambiguous as it sort of implies that that the blue ones hang around in the deep north but not in the deep south…are they all Blue? including the ones in Japan? and are they known as Mason Bees or Blue Mason Bees?…but on the other hand it might be some other kind of Bee entirely!
“Blue orchard bees are a type of mason bee in the genus Osmia, meaning they are solitary bees that use mud to seal the ends of their nesting tunnels. The blue orchard bee, Osmia lignaria, is native to North America where it is found throughout most of the U.S. This bee does not occur in the deep south and is somewhat rare in the great plains. There are many other species of mason bees. They include O.cornifrons, an Asian species used for apple pollination in JAPAN..”
*this gets quite academic and technical, differentiating between the two types but here’s a guide..*
http://www.pollinatorparadise.com/Binderboards/Hornfaced_Bees.htm#Recognizing_adult
All I know is, that without bees we would be in a real spot of bother, because nothing would get pollinated and reproduce [sort of like plant-sex if you will]..and there wouldnt be any need for flowers except if the birds did the pollinating but they’ll all be gone soon as well, because of the pollution and bird smugglers..somedays, I think its all just hopeless..they give us a nice comfortable planet to live on and then straight away we go and mess it all up,its criminal.
rem
August 27th, 2008 at 6:57 amrem, I’ve since found out that they’re called ルリモンハナバチ in Japanese, and the Latin name is thyreus decorus. Haven’t uncovered a common English name yet, there may not be one.
August 27th, 2008 at 9:10 amwell, whatever his name is I bet he’s an Inter supporter..
http://www.uksoccershop.com/index.php?main_page=popup_image&pID=9321
rem
August 27th, 2008 at 11:14 amCool stuff, Mr. O!
August 27th, 2008 at 11:39 amI’d never heard of blue bees. Great pix, too.