Spring is in full swing here in northern California, and I was glad to see so many honeybees out performing their pollinating service. In fact, there were many more honeybees here than I typically see on the flowers in streetside gardens at home. Hmmmm…wonder what that means?
Honeybees swarmed the tinybflowers of California lilac (Ceanothus species)
They were probably collecting pollen from this plant (rather than nectar). Look at those full pollen baskets on the rear appendages.
Twin flowers of this mint species offer nectar at the bottom of a deep floral tube, causing the bee to pick up pollen on its back as they brush by the anthers.
Better view of the plant-pollinator geometry that ensures the bee does its job for the flower while getting its reward. Bees typically spent several seconds on each flower, so either the nectar was hard to get to, or there was a lot of it (probably the former).
Bright purple modified leaves at the top of the flower stem attract bees to this fragrant mint. The tiny, purple-black flowers stud the sides of a thick floral stem.
I think this might be Spanish Lavender, which looks nothing like MN lavender. It’s highly aromatic, like other lavenders, though.
California is experiencing a mega-bloom after all the recent winter rain, so I hope I will see a lot more of these plant-pollinator interactions in the next few days.
Back Yard Biology 
I’m heading to California next weekend and hope to catch some of the flowers.
Northern California is not yet at peak, another one to two weeks they say. But you should see some spectacular blooms next week.
Does your bloom seem to be a bit delayed? With all this news about the superbloom down south, I was expecting a bit more of the early bloomers here by now. They bloomed normally, but those that bloom immediately afterward seem to be a bit delayed. Azaleas and rhododendrons and many other landscape flowers are notably minimal. Even though they have not bloomed yet, their buds are sparse.
Much less of a wildflower bloom here than I expected, but it might have been delayed by constant rain.
Yes, just like here.