Magnolia and Bee

The other day as I was leaving my yard, I notice that the magnolia blossom had finally bloomed. This was tremendously exciting because it is the second magnolia tree that I planted and I placed it in the ground this spring.

You can see from the photos that I literally jumped out of my car to take in this fascinating display of nature. To my surprise I found a bee absolutely molesting the stigma of the flower. The bee was stuffing pollen into a huge sack near its back feet. I stood mesmerized and felt as if I were watching a nature film.

When I returned later that day, the lower part of the stigma lay in total disarray at the base of the petals.

This is what I captured with my camera.....

See if you can see the sack of pollen.......