Tourists armed with smartphone cameras aren’t the only ones attracted to the early wildflower bloom here in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.
Krystle Hickman, a photographer and community scientist from Los Angeles, is gaining recognition for her quest to document hundreds of species of native bees to raise awareness about their diversity and conservation. She recently made a stop here in Borrego as part of that work, as reported by The Associated Press.
Some interesting things I learned in reading about her quest, and her visit:
- North America has roughly 4,000 native bee species. Hickman has photographed over 300 of them so far.
- Hickman noted that the bees in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park don’t emerge from their burrows here until around 10 a.m., when the desert begins to heat up. She said they typically spend about 20 minutes foraging and then return to their burrows for 10 minutes to offload pollen.
- Native bees can be very picky eaters. Many drink nectar or eat pollen only from specific plants, which makes preserving diverse habitats crucial to their survival.
- Fun fact: People who study bees are called melittologists – I had no idea!
I was also so intrigued by Hickman’s work that I went on a little side quest to learn more about her background and passion. Here’s where you can do the same:
- Her website is called BeeSip.
- Her Instagram is definitely worth following (her stunning closeup photos of bees prompted me to hit that follow button immediately). She’s also on Facebook.
- Hickman has a book out called The ABCs of California’s Native Bees, available on Amazon.
- And there are some cool videos (like the one below) on her YouTube channel:
Featured photo for this article by Pu00e9ter Ku00f6vesi on Pexels.com
Under the Borrego Sky 