Common Carder Bee on Knapweed

Another Saturday so guess what.  Yes we were prepping the Lodge for more visitors.  The "wildflower meadow" is beginning to show a good number of flowers.  While I was taking shots this Common carder Bee posed so I couldn't disappoint it could I.

rs are just as the appear members of the Bumblebee group.  They build small nests or prefer to take over something such as a mouse nest.  The eggs are laid in a wax cup and fed on pollen.  Interestingly another wax cup is built and filled with honey.  This is an emergency food supply for periods of bad weather when they are unable to fly.

Knapweed is a great resource for pollinators particularly butterflies.  Knapweed is widespread growing happily in a variety of common habitats.  It seeds and spreads readily to the extent that in North America it is classed as an invasive plant.