This first picture is a honeybee swarm early evening yesterday, May18, 2008.  We called the local bee keeper to see if he wanted it.  Within an hour or so after taking this picture, it moved to the next tree and about twenty feet off the ground, too high to reach.

This second picture was taken this morning.

The next day, it moved about 10 feet away to a new tree:

When the swarm moved to the lower branches of some osage orange 'bush' (sprouts from a cut off tree), the bee people were called again.  They brought over a white box.  Within a half hour, almost all the bees were inside it.  From what I understand, the bee keeper accomplishes this  by carefully maneuvering the queen into the box, the swarm then follows her.

I was trying to take a close up picture of a bloom (below), then I saw something move:  a baby praying mantis.  He (her?) was less than 1cm long, very feisty...wouldn't sit still long.  More than once, I'd have to take my eye away from the camera to search for him, finding him on my hand or camera!

Growing fast....this one is closer to 2 inches

I put up an plastic feeder shaped like an orange, to attract Orioles.  No Orioles yet, but I do have some very happy ants.

Cicada ...minutes old

Midnight Molt 2005

Bee on daylily

White Moth

Tent Caterpillars

click here for a link to information about the tent caterpillars

Wasp Nest with Eggs and Larvae