Scout Bee

Gwenn Seemel
Liberté, Égalité, Sororité (Bee Marianne)
2024
acrylic on paper
14 x 11 inches

https://gwennseemel.com/artwork/2024/bee-marianne/

Welcome to the 2nd Annual Brisebois Bees Art Box Exhibition Contest! Register at Brisebois Bees dot CA Brisebois Bees is a Brentwood-grown local business with deep roots in this city. While our founder is a 3rd generation Calgarian, the beekeeping journey began as a solo venture back in 2015 with just a single nuc. Since then, we have grown organically to manage over 70 honey bee colonies across Calgary and the surrounding countryside. Following a sold-out debut last year with over 60 entries, we are inviting the community once again to help us turn our hives into a living, breathing art gallery. By participating, you are painting a deep Langstroth super (a beehive box) that will become a working home for our bees this season. The 2026 Schedule: Registration Deadline: March 31, 2026. Box Pickup: April 10–12 at our Brentwood location. Box Drop-off: April 24–25 (Must be returned by the 25th for event setup). The Art Show: Sunday, April 26, at the Triwood Spring Market (Triwood Community Association). Entry Details: Entry Fee: $25 +gst The Canvas: We provide one assembled, white-primed deep super box for your art. The Categories: 1. The "Worker Bee" (Kids 12 & Under): Celebrating vibrant colors and youthful creativity. 2. The "Queen’s Choice" (Adult/Open): For high-level technical skill and fine art. Prizes and our guest panel of Calgary artists will be announced prior to box pickup! questions? give us a buzz 403-284-5247

Amazing update/sequel to our last video. Apparently the locals loved it because a wild mama #hummingbird came and started feeding our babies. 🥰😭 #wildliferehabilitation #wildliferehab #urbanwildlife #wildliferescue

BeeSafe™: THE Standard for Bee Care For years, we’ve watched well-intentioned gardeners buy bee houses that actually hurt the bee population.In this episode, Dave Hunter from Crown Bees explain...

Umatilla, FL.
I bought Queens and supplies at D & J Apiary Supply for years. Highly recommended business.

‼️Our upcoming beginners class is

March 21st

Classes start at 9 o’clock and usually end around 3pm. Lunch is around 12 and it is included with the class. The first portion of the class is indoors, after lunch we take you out to the bee yard for our hands on portion of the class. Protective gear is provided but jeans and closed toed shoes are recommended. Give us a call and get signed up today.

🐝352-669-4233

If you are unable to make it on this date keep checking our facebook and website for upcoming class dates.

Three species are competing for your nest box this week. Two of them you want. One of them you need to manage.

Eastern Bluebirds have been prospecting since early March. Tree Swallows are arriving from Central America right now. Both are cavity nesters, both eat enormous quantities of insects, and both will raise families in your box if they get the chance.

House Sparrows want the same box. And they don't share.

House Sparrows are an invasive species — not protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. When they claim a nest box, they build a messy nest stuffed with grass, feathers, and debris. They're aggressive enough to drive native cavity nesters out, and if a bluebird or swallow is already nesting, the sparrow will enter the box and attack. The results are not subtle — dead adults and destroyed eggs.

This isn't rare. It happens in a significant percentage of unmanaged nest boxes every spring.

The good news is that the fix is simple, cheap, and effective.

🐦 What to do this week:

- Check your boxes for sparrow nests — messy, overstuffed with grass and debris piled high. If you find one, remove it. House Sparrows are not protected and you can legally remove their nests and eggs
- Install a sparrow spooker on top of the box — a short piece of wire with two or three Mylar strips that flutter in the breeze. Bluebirds tolerate it completely. Sparrows abandon the box within days. Total cost about two dollars
- If sparrows persist, plug the entrance hole for three to four days. Sparrows move on to find another site. Bluebirds are more patient and will wait
- Pair two boxes fifteen to twenty feet apart — tree swallows and bluebirds will each claim one and jointly defend against sparrows. This is one of the most effective strategies nest box programs use
- Monitor weekly through April and May — early detection of sparrow activity prevents losses before they happen

The birds are choosing now. A two-dollar sparrow spooker and weekly checks are the difference between a successful nest and an empty box 🌿

Thank you to the native plants that support our native wildlife 🫡

It takes more than nectar to entice butterflies to take up residence in your garden. Read more here: https://butterfly-lady.com/plant-host-plants/

Today I have a spring drawing for you. This is the common carder bumblebee (Bombus pascuorum), one of the most numerous bumblebees in the area where I live. It is by no means the easiest to identify, though. Its colouration is very variable and some colour forms are strikingly similar to other bumblebee species.

Bumblebees are said to have innate preference for blue colour. It means that a bumblebee that has never seen flowers before will be more attracted to blue ones. I don't know how universal it is - I found research done only on a few species. What is interesting, there is some degree of individual variation in colour preference - not all bumblebees and all colonies of the same species like exactly the same colour.

The innate preference can be quickly modified after a young bumblebee starts foraging, and learns which flowers are most rewarding in her environment. Therefore, we can see bumblebees foraging on all colours of flowers (even on red ones - see one of my previous posts!)