Bees are everywhere, even in Death Valley

The western honey bee (Apis mellifera) never ceases to amaze me!

Visiting Death Valley National Park recently, this sign caught my attention …

We were headed to Dante’s View, so now I’m on the lookout for bees. Towering 5,575 ft above Badwater Basin, on the ridge of the Black Mountains, the viewpoint sits on what could generously be described as a big ‘ol pile of rock, rubble, stone and dust, with a few scrubby bushes scattered about. I’m thinking there’s no way honey bees are living out here! The viewpoint looks like this, with the Death Valley salt floor in the background …

But on closer inspection of that bush — a cresosote bush (Larrea tridentata), in full bloom — …

… it turned out to be covered in foraging honey bees!

Beekeeping is not a widespread practice in this arid region, and commercial beekeeping is not permitted inside National Parks, so these must be from feral honeybee colonies, foraging for precious nectar and pollen from desert-adapted flowers like the creosote bush.

So we learned something new today: bees can and do live in Death Valley; and we were reminded of something we already knew: bees are amazing!