On Final Approach

A bee gets ready to descend onto flowers of Bell’s Twinpod north of Boulder. (Photo: © Tom Yulsman)

The bees have been out in force in the warm, sunny weather we’ve been experiencing along Colorado’s Front Range. This guy is hovering above some blooming Bell’s twinpod near Boulder. This exceedingly rare plant exhibits extreme endemism, growing on a handful of shale slopes along the Front Range of Colorado, and nowhere else.

A bumble bee at the same spot. (Photo: © Tom Yulsman)

With the emergence of flowers after weeks of repeated snowstorms, bumble bees were also out and about. This fine specimen (perhaps a queen?) is a member of the Hunt’s bumblebee tribe (or the Bombus huntii species, to be more scientifically precise).