Flower Beauties, and as busy as a bee !

Back in June, Eddie and I took you for a walk in the garden, but in case you missed it you can see it here

Like so many, we experienced a hot and quite dry summer and wondered how the garden and it's flowers would cope. Now in these cooler Autumn days, we enjoyed a quiet afternoon stroll and were so pleased that these flowers have bloomed so well.

… and isn't it nice to see the bee, being busy !

please click on pictures to enlarge 

Did you know the saying or phrase, Busy as a Bee, "likely originates from something that bees are known for - being hard workers.

Bees are indeed busy little insects. Doing what, you ask? Pollinating plants, for one! In order to reproduce, many plants actually depend on bees for pollination. How so? For a flower to reproduce, the stamen (the male organ of a flower) has to produce pollen, and then that pollen needs to get to the stigma of the pistil (the female organ of a flower). How does the pollen get there? Bees! When a bee lands on a flower, the pollen sticks to the hairs of its body. Then, when they land on another flower of the same type, the pollen makes contact with the stigma of the flower, and thus pollination occurs. So while bees are buzzing around from plant to plant, they're doing quite a bit of work—they are busy bees indeed.​

There's also the part where bees collect nectar (a sugary liquid that flowers produce) and they use that to make honey, and then there is the whole building a hive thing... alright, you get it, they have a lot of work to do. ​

So how old is this saying? Well, it goes back to at least the 14th century. A man named Geoffrey Chaucer is the author of a book called The Canterbury Tales, which is believed to have been written between the years 1387 and 1400. In a part of the book titled "The Merchant's Epilogue," there is a line that reads:

'In wommen been! for ay as bisy as bees.' "

We hope you enjoy your Autumn Days

(or Spring if you are in the Southern Hemisphere)

All the best
Jan and Eddie