"Leafcutter Bee in Flight”, 2012Ink and brush on Fabriano paper, approx. 4.5″ x 7″ A solitary Leafcutter bee returned to lay in the bee houses this year. Due to the rain and cold weather she has completed less than one tube of cells this summer, on which the hope of leafcutters next year now rests. I will over-winter them in the tool shed to ensure cool, dry conditions, and hope for better weather at hatching time next spring. On the positive side, this bee has been feeding in the garden, and I have taken many photos of her on the poppies…

"Leafcutter Bee Emerging", 2012Ink and brush on Fabriano paper, approx. 6"x 5" After almost a year lived in perfect darkness inside a leaf cell, a leafcutter bee emerges into the light. First its antennae, then its eyes experiencing the world for the first time. In its jaws are the dried leaves of the cell from which the bee has just broken free. One after another the bees hatch from the leafy tubes on warm, dry days, to fly into the garden. The leafcutters in my garden were very late this year. Usually…