tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446924751738546355.post3288854293859214187..comments2023-10-09T00:09:16.769-07:00Comments on Arizona: Beetles, Bugs, Birds and more: Desert BeesMargarethe Brummermannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05623937180200255796noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446924751738546355.post-46990782829384296192013-04-23T10:51:54.629-07:002013-04-23T10:51:54.629-07:00Great comment, helps me to point out an important ...Great comment, helps me to point out an important difference between bees and dragonflies: Bees are not completely exotherm, dragons are. Bees can shiver and actively increase their body temps, but it costs them. Bernd Heinrich found that bumblebees in areas with flowers that yielded high caloric nectar would keep feeding and flying (fireweed) whereas those in areas with low yield goldenrod sat down, crawled on the flowers but didn't fly. He took temp measurements and the fireweed ones were high above ambient (they could afford it). My bees were all on the same plant and I couldn't measure temps, but I just speculate that the females were more motivated to keep going. By the way, they were all not hiding before a storm, they just took little breaks when it got temporarily colder. But you know the desert: one can feel every little cloud shadow imediatelyMargarethe Brummermannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05623937180200255796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446924751738546355.post-16443510965855532762013-04-23T10:04:09.981-07:002013-04-23T10:04:09.981-07:00I wonder... Do you think it's the temperature...I wonder... Do you think it's the temperature or the drop in light intensity that causes the bees to stop moving? I did a project with damselflies as an undergrad that showed that although temp did cause a bit of a drop in flight activity prior to storms, the light intensity was a much stronger factor in the behavior. I think that the damselflies use the light as a cue to roost, so they disappear from the ponds prior to storms and fly away to their roosts, then return once the light picks back up (thereby avoiding the storm entirely). Wonder if your bees might be doing the same thing!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446924751738546355.post-10009177505337175182013-03-27T11:38:32.306-07:002013-03-27T11:38:32.306-07:00Looks like you've got the Hooded Orioles -- th...Looks like you've got the Hooded Orioles -- they are just now invading San Diego County, too.Robyn Waayershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00403062292397104209noreply@blogger.com