Honeybees love aloe blossoms

April 17, 2011


The Aloe saponaria flowers are attracting a busy fan base.


Or should I say buzzy?


The dangling, coral-red blossoms are alive with honeybees. A quick glance gives no hint of the activity going on inside each tubular flower.


But watch carefully and you’ll see bees emerging rump-first from the flowers and then flying to another and crawling inside.


It seems a lot of work to collect pollen from these long flowers, but imagine what it must be like up in there: a rosy blossom’s close embrace, a colorful cocoon. No wonder they keep at it.

All material © 2006-2011 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

2nd garden--2011, Aloes, Bees

8 responses to “Honeybees love aloe blossoms”

  1. Caroline says:
    April 17, 2011 at 10:08 AM

    These aloes are in pots, correct? I have a passalong from RBell that I need to pot up.

    No, they’re in the ground, Caroline. These that are blooming are in a protected spot and suffered very little last winter. Others that are more exposed died back but are returning. They will not bloom this spring. —Pam

  2. Helen/patientgarden says:
    April 17, 2011 at 10:38 AM

    Amazing photos

    Thanks, Helen. —Pam

  3. Elephant's Eye says:
    April 17, 2011 at 1:24 PM

    Ours still have buds, lengthening by the day. Thanks to advice from Noelle AZPlantlady, we have been watering just once a month thru the summer and there are buds bursting out all over.

    How exciting! Enjoy your aloe flowers when they pop, EE. —Pam

  4. Lola says:
    April 17, 2011 at 7:55 PM

    Mine are blooming too Pam. But no bees. My neighbor uses chemicals to promote his yr old sod. Not to mention the city sprays for mosquitoes.

    Oh no. I’m sorry to hear that you’ve lost your beneficial insects because of all that. That’s such a loss. —Pam

  5. compostinmyshoe says:
    April 17, 2011 at 9:02 PM

    What a tease. They really can’t reach the nectar source. They sure help with pollination. Great shots.

    I didn’t know they couldn’t reach it, CIMS. They sure are trying. —Pam

  6. Cat says:
    April 17, 2011 at 10:57 PM

    Lovely, lovely images Pam.

    Thanks, Cat. —Pam

  7. Lisa at Greenbow says:
    April 18, 2011 at 5:34 AM

    Those sweet little bees get the best of their world in there.

    It is fun to see them pop in and out of the flowers, Lisa. Yes, they are sweet, and busy. —Pam

  8. Nicole says:
    April 18, 2011 at 9:46 AM

    Lovely blooms. I just love these plants for their pretty, prolific blooming and basically no care needed and just yesterday set divided up some pups.

    Aloe saponaria IS a low-care plant, it’s true. But for my central Texas readers I’ll point out that it can be an aggressive spreader, and it can also be killed by hard freezes. Between the two extremes, it kind of keeps itself in check. But that makes it a higher-maintenance plant than some other xeric plants, like yuccas, for instance. —Pam