Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: bees

On 8 September 2017, I decided on the spur of the moment, to drive south to the Saskatoon Farm. I wasn't sure what I would be doing that weekend and wanted to make sure I went there to buy a few of their vegetables and fruit. I knew that a weekend would be a much busier time. I also wanted to photograph a few of their beautiful Artichoke flowers before they were all past their prime. These flowers were very popular with the bees, which was so good to see. As usual, I wandered round the grounds with my camera, catching one of the cats, one of the dogs, and a few of the chickens, as well as flowers. I never return home with an empty memory card when I visit this place. Unfortunately, it was a smoky day (like most days in the summer this year) with the air quality rating an unpleasant High Risk level. In fact, I almost turned back before I was half way there. This interesting place is maybe a 25-minute drive SE from the southern edge of Calgary. You can collect your own Saskatoon berries in season, look around their outside green houses, and their inside gift shop full of unusual things, and buy special baking, jams, teas and so on. They also have a restaurant that offers great food. www.saskatoonfarm.com/

On 8 September 2017, I decided on the spur of the moment, to drive south to the Saskatoon Farm. I wasn't sure what I would be doing that weekend and wanted to make sure I went there to buy a few of their vegetables and fruit. I knew that a weekend would be a much busier time. I also wanted to photograph a few of their beautiful Artichoke flowers before they were all past their prime, though the one in this photo is already aging. These flowers were very popular with the bees, which was so good to see. As usual, I wandered round the grounds with my camera, catching one of the cats, one of the dogs, and a few of the chickens, as well as flowers. I never return home with an empty memory card when I visit this place. Unfortunately, it was a smoky day (what's new?) with the air quality rating an unpleasant High Risk level. In fact, I almost turned back before I was half way there. This interesting place is maybe a 25-minute drive SE from the southern edge of Calgary. You can collect your own Saskatoon berries in season, look around their outside green houses, and their inside gift shop full of unusual things, and buy special baking, jams, teas and so on. They also have a restaurant that offers great food. www.saskatoonfarm.com/

On 8 September 2017, I decided on the spur of the moment, to drive south to the Saskatoon Farm. I wasn't sure what I would be doing that weekend and wanted to make sure I went there to buy a few of their vegetables and fruit. I knew that a weekend would be a much busier time. I also wanted to photograph a few of their beautiful Artichoke flowers before they were all past their prime, though the one in this photo is already aging. These flowers were very popular with the bees, which was so good to see. So many different bee species, too, all together on one flower. As usual, I wandered round the grounds with my camera, catching one of the cats, one of the dogs, and a few of the chickens, as well as flowers. I never return home with an empty memory card when I visit this place. Unfortunately, it was a smoky day (what's new?) with the air quality rating an unpleasant High Risk level. In fact, I almost turned back before I was half way there. This interesting place is maybe a 25-minute drive SE from the southern edge of Calgary. You can collect your own Saskatoon berries in season, look around their outside green houses, and their inside gift shop full of unusual things, and buy special baking, jams, teas and so on. They also have a restaurant that offers great food. www.saskatoonfarm.com/

On 8 September 2017, I decided on the spur of the moment, to drive south to the Saskatoon Farm. I wasn't sure what I would be doing that weekend and wanted to make sure I went there to buy a few of their vegetables and fruit. I knew that a weekend would be a much busier time. I also wanted to photograph a few of their beautiful Artichoke flowers before they were all past their prime, though the one in this photo is already aging. These flowers were very popular with the bees, which was so good to see. As usual, I wandered round the grounds with my camera, catching one of the cats, one of the dogs, and a few of the chickens, as well as flowers. I never return home with an empty memory card when I visit this place. Unfortunately, it was a smoky day (what's new?) with the air quality rating an unpleasant High Risk level. In fact, I almost turned back before I was half way there. This interesting place is maybe a 20-minute drive SE from the southern edge of Calgary. You can collect your own Saskatoon berries in season, look around their outside green houses, and their inside gift shop full of unusual things, and buy special baking, jams, teas and so on. They also have a restaurant that offers great food. www.saskatoonfarm.com/

At the moment, millions of people are dealing with tremendous devastation from either wildfires or Hurricane Harvey and Irma. The western half of our continent is going up in flames, while the eastern half is drowning in floodwater and/or being torn apart by winds. So much damage and total destruction! The TV footage is just horrendous! My thoughts are with everyone who is dealing with any of this. Yesterday, 8 September 2017, I decided on the spur of the moment, to drive south to the Saskatoon Farm. I wasn't sure what I would be doing this weekend and wanted to make sure I went there to buy a few of their vegetables and fruit. I knew that a weekend would be a much busier time. I also wanted to photograph a few of their beautiful Artichoke flowers before they were all past their prime, though the one in this photo is already aging. These flowers were very popular with the bees, which was so good to see. As usual, I wandered round the grounds with my camera, catching one of the cats, one of the dogs, and a few of the chickens, as well as flowers. I never return home with an empty memory card when I visit this place. Unfortunately, it was a smoky day (what's new?) with the air quality rating an unpleasant High Risk level. In fact, I almost turned back before I was half way there. This interesting place is maybe a 20-minute drive SE from the southern edge of Calgary. You can collect your own Saskatoon berries in season, look around their outside green houses, and their inside gift shop full of unusual things, and buy special baking, jams, teas and so on. They also have a restaurant that offers great food. www.saskatoonfarm.com/

This photo might do funny things to your eyes - sorry : ) I guess the fast movement of all those thousands of tiny bee wings made things slightly blurry. When I called in at Fish Creek Park for half an hour on 11 May 2016, a lady who was down there spotted this enormous bee colony. Later, I read on friend Larry's website that a bee keeper had since been called in to remove this huge mass and that the bee keeper had estimated the number of bees to be 15,000-20,000! There was no activity from the Great Horned Owl family during the very brief time I was there, and the owls were so well hidden by all the leaves and branches that there was no chance to get photos. The only other thing I did see there was the work of local Beavers. Took me by surprise when I saw how they had changed the creek and flooded part of the ground.

Such sad news from the Calgary Zoo just now (16 May 2016): "We are deeply saddened to share that silverback gorilla, Kakinga, passed away Saturday night at the age of 37. Often called the zoo’s gentle giant, Kakinga was an exceptional silverback; a kind, loving, protective and diligent leader. Our Veterinary team has determined he died as a result of developing a large tear in his aorta which caused the sac around his heart to become filled with blood and ultimately stopped his heart. This is one of the well-recognized causes of mortality in gorillas, especially males. Kakinga was born December 1, 1978 at the Jersey Zoo in the United Kingdom and arrived at the Calgary Zoo in 1984. After nine years, he transitioned into the role of silverback, or leader of the troop in 1993, a role he held for the past 23 years. During his time as silverback, he fathered 13 offspring, eight of which are surviving with the most recent being born just this past March at our zoo. Of those eight, five are males and three are females. But Kakinga is known for more than just his impressive genetics. His calm and gentle natured endeared him to all zoo staff who cared for him. He was very involved in his role as leader of the troop, acting as a peacekeeper, a protector and in some very tender moments, a father." From the Calgary Zoo. "Western Lowland Gorillas are part of a Species Survival Program authorized by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and are considered endangered by the World Conservation Union (IUCN). Their last chance for survival may be a few gorilla sanctuaries in Africa, zoos, and other captive environments and breeding programs throughout the world." From the Calgary Zoo. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This photo might do funny things to your eyes - sorry : ) I guess the fast movement of all those thousands of tiny bee wings made things a bit blurry. When I called in at Fish Creek Park for half an hour on 11 May 2016, a lady who was down there spotted this enormous bee colony. Later. I read on friend Larry's website that a bee keeper had since been called in to remove this huge mass and that the bee keeper had estimated the number of bees to be 15,000-20,000! There was no activity from the owl family during the very brief time I was there, and the owls were so well hidden by all the leaves and branches that there was no chance to get photos. The only other thing I did see there was the work of local Beavers. Took me by surprise when I saw how they had changed the creek and flooded part of the ground.

Wow, I have to just add the following late this afternoon, as I am so impressed. Just a few hours ago, I posted a new thread in the Help Forum. I really prefer not to post there, but just had to after I happened to come across a website today that was displaying a lot of my photos for FREE downloading and in all sizes. My images are ALL copyright protected. Apparently, they were ALSO displaying download links for all available display sizes for people's photos that on Flickr are NOT set to be downloadable by visitors. Later today, Flickr staff member bhautik joshi PRO answered, saying: "What they are doing is not even remotely OK. We're looking into it." Almost immediately, all we could see on their website were blank, white pages. Amazingly fast action by a staff member, which is hugely appreciated! www.flickr.com/help/forum/en-us/72157668259472146/ flip.life/search/annkelliott/?p=6 flip.life/photo/15482189596/united-church-dorothy-alberta itunes.apple.com/cn/app/fliplife/id1112300459?mt=8 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This photo might do funny things to your eyes - sorry : ) I guess the fast movement of all those thousands of tiny bee wings made things a bit blurry. When I called in at Fish Creek Park for half an hour a couple of days ago, on 11 May 2016, a lady who was down there spotted this enormous bee colony. Last night, I read on friend Larry's website that a bee keeper had since been called in to remove this huge mass and that the bee keeper had estimated the number of bees to be 15,000-20,000! There was no activity from the owl family during the very brief time I was there, and the owls were so well hidden by all the leaves and branches that there was no chance to get photos. The only other thing I did see there was the work of local Beavers. Took me by surprise when I saw how they had changed the creek and flooded part of the ground.

Apparently, there are an estimated 300+ native bee species in Alberta and 800+ species in Canada. I had no idea! "Bees are the world's most important plant pollinators. Several species of bees have been imported to Alberta to pollinate crops and to produce honey. These and the native wild bees (like the bumblebee) play an extremely important role in nature. Without them, many fruits and seeds would not be produced." esrd.alberta.ca/fish-wildlife/wild-species/invertebrates/... "The systemic nature of the problem makes it complex, but not impenetrable. Scientists know that bees are dying from a variety of factors—pesticides, drought, habitat destruction, nutrition deficit, air pollution, global warming and more. Many of these causes are interrelated. The bottom line is that we know humans are largely responsible for the two most prominent causes: pesticides and habitat loss." From Greenpeace. www.greenpeace.org/usa/sustainable-agriculture/save-the-b... "How many different species of wild bees would you guess we have here in Alberta? How many can you name? Most people drastically underestimate the diversity of bees that call this province home and think of them only as either bumblebees or honeybees. The reality is much richer, with a surprising estimate of over 300 different kinds of bees in Alberta. All of them provide an essential ecosystem service by pollinating crops, gardens, and wildflowers. For example, pollination increases the yield of canola, an important crop grown in Alberta, by 10-30% (Morandin and Wilson, 2005). Because of their important role as crop pollinators, bees are of interest to the ABMI’s (Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute) Ecosystem Services Assessment Project. This project is mapping ecosystem services, which are the benefits provided by natural systems that contribute to our health and well-being. In order to map pollination services, the project requires information on the abundance and diversity of bees in Alberta, and where they’re living—information that is lacking for many areas of the province. To address this information gap, the project has partnered with Dr. Jessamyn Manson at the University of Alberta to conduct two years of wild bee surveys across Alberta’s agricultural zone. These surveys are occurring in commercial canola fields all the way from the US border to sites near Grande Prairie." From an article on the ABMI's blog, written on 4 February 2015. The bee team has conducted a second field season in 2015 and continuing to process the 2014 samples. blog.abmi.ca/2015/02/04/the-latest-buzz-on-albertas-wild-... www.amazon.com/The-Beekeepers-Lament-Billion-America/dp/0... This photo of an Echinacea flower was taken at the Reader Rock Garden on 26 August 2015.