Yucca bees

Today on my ride up Zion Canyon after “work” (yes, I do do long rides by myself, sometimes) I stopped to admire this wonderful blooming plant alongside the Pa’rus Trail and the Virgin River.

It’s called the Spanish bayonet, or Yucca harrimaniae, a common local species.

Sure enough, there were honey bees working the blooms!

I’m quite excited to see honey bees!! These foragers are gathering nectar, as I saw nothing in their pollen baskets. They seemed to fly off towards Zion Canyon, and away from the populated town of Springdale. I’ve seen backyard hives in a home just on the other side of Springdale, so I know there are local beekeepers along the river. As those hives are ~4 miles from this plant, I doubt it was those bees foraging here, since honey bees typically have a foraging range of 2-3 miles. Perhaps there are other, closer local beekeepers. Or these are the wild bees of Zion. Where’s my bee-lining kit when I need it?!

BONUS: Fun fact for my beek friends … Honey bees do not pollinate yucca. Only the yucca moth pollinates yucca plants. “For more than 40 million years there has been a relationship between yucca plants and yucca moths.  It’s a particularly important one because neither the yucca or the moth can survive without the other.  The moth’s larvae depend on the seeds of the yucca plant for food, and the yucca plant can only be pollinated by the yucca moth.” Who knew!?