Thirsty Thirsty Bees

I don't know what the bees are up to with all of this water, but this afternoon there were SO many of them on the surface of our "pond." It is really just half a wine barrel that we filled with water for the bees.

Before the neighborhood raccoons found it we had water plants growing and flowering in it, tall rushes, and mosquito fish given to us by Alameda county to make sure that we didn't create a health hazard. At the hight of its pond-ness I even saw a bright red dragon fly come and land in its surface. I had never seen a dragon fly in the city before.

The raccoons got into it a couple too many times and now we just have azola, which has recently turned a startling red color. The color of the photo looks off, but look at the color of the bees. It is actually acurate, though strange. The azola alone is still enough to provide a landing pad for the honey bees and also to collect some of this morning's rain on its surface!