Mexico: HUMMINGBIRD HILL RANCH: Mayan Bees

"Come, have a look," said Tisha one foggy morning. "Get your camera."
She walked to the edge of their courtyard overgrown by a tree, some bushes and an army of her flowering plants. 
"Look." She was pointing at some dead branches no more than some two meters above the ground.
"Huh?" I saw nothing special there.
"Don't you see them?"
"See whom?"
"Look!!!" pushing away some branches and dead plants she made her way closer to the tree. "See?"
"What ...are they ... bees?!"

They were tiny.
Some were crawling out of what seemed to be a short tunnel, sat on the edge as if unsure of what to do first, then "jumped" into the space in front of them and whizzed away. 
Others were coming in, carrying yellow pollen on their legs. Some missed and landed a bit sideways only to try one more time to make it home.
And there was a group that never went anywhere. Lazy or what?

And all of them seemed to be slower and clumsier than their big bee cousins.
The spiders must have known that too because there were many spiderwebs strung about and in all directions.

"What are they?" The bees were about a third of what I would ever imagine a bee to be.
"They are honey bees," she said matter-of-factly.
"What? H-o-n-e-y bees?"

She stepped even closer to the tunnel. "Come here, don't worry, they don't sting. Just make sure not to disturb them."

Stingless bees?
"Yes, the ancient Mayan bees," she said with pride in her voice. "They were sacred to Maya."

"How did you acquire them?" It was a silly question.

"Well, they just seem to have found us. And that hollow log here. Maybe because we do not chop down the trees. Enjoy." 
And with that she left to take care of other things.





It was a bit difficult to get close to the bee log and the bees were not really into posing for photos either. And on the top of everything the dogs kept me a lively company making sure that I would not feel too lonely. They cheerfully ignored my pleas for their departure. It must have been my Spanish pronunciation (or the lack of).





As the days went by, the bees kept on adding more and more waxy material to the outer edge of the tunnel.

Eventually they made an enclosure.

Tisha said, that they would do it whenever the weather turned foul (as it surely did in those December days).

And by the end of the third week there was also an addition on the top of the branch.
For what you must ask the experts; we did not want to disturb the bees to investigate any further.Why?
Because the Stingless Mayan Bees are already disappearing (like most of our Nature).

These little bees do have stingers but they are so small that the bees cannot really sting. They can bite though and the bees that hang about the entrance can be quite unfriendly to the intruders. They serve as guards, checking out every bee that is coming in and out. If the incomer does not belong to the hive, it will be mercilessly turned away. Pollen or not! 
The home buddies are welcome. 


They used to be regarded as sacred by the Maya and the story has it that when a beekeeper died, the hive was buried with him so his bees would accompany him in the afterlife.
Unfortunately, just like everything else these days, due to deforestation, the tiny honey makers of the Mesoamerica are in trouble.  Also, the human desire to produce more for less makes the situation even worse. The peaceful stingless bees are being replaced by their larger, faster, more active cousin: the honey bee. Respect for the little ones is diminishing. 

But  the large bees are unable to pollinate many native plants (orchids or some trees). And as we know (or should know) "everything is connected to anything else", so when the little bees go, the orchids, the trees and who-knows-what will follow.

Brave new world will ensue!

Masses of the small but numerous orchids sprung up in December on one of the trees in Tisha's garden.

In case that you are interested to learn more, visit the following foodscaping blog. It will take you to Tulum, MX and explain a whole lot more about the stingless meliponines as they are called. There are many species belonging to this group and they can be found warm climates all over the world. 
But only 2 species, Melipona beecheii and M. yucatanica are native to Central America.

And they are disappearing fast.

Mexico: HUMMINGBIRD HILL RANCH - B&B: Bamboo & Bananas

Bananas and Bamboo took off like fire on the Hummingbird Hill Ranch.

The ram and I developed the plan and stuck to it. Well, I certainly did! I suspect that the ram stuck to his part of the agreement only because of the electric fence so cleverly separating our territories. 
In any case - I had been exiled to the upper parts of the ranch dominated by The Bamboo Forest and Banana Grove. 







To be honest: I had no complaints about that for both of them are not only photogenic but, from the human point of view, they are also extremely important species of the plant kingdom.

But let me tell about the Bamboo forest  first.

Carlos and Tisha planted the young bamboo seedlings about five years ago. 
They planted them in a large circle and the tiny stems grew with a vigor rapidly creating walls of a green tower several meters tall. All one had to do now, was to squeeze in between the now thick stems and, like in a fairy tale, disappear into an entirely different world. 
Like Alice in Wonderland!

Dark, silent world awaited, somehow different from everything I knew before.

Up above, the sky darkened and it began to rain.

Some rain drops made it down all the way onto the bamboo tower floor. Only some. 
Most lodged themselves onto the leaves above, leaving me, and my camera, dry. It felt like being unborn as yet!

As if some unknown energy radiated from the plants into the tubular space in which I stood.


All of a sudden an idea popped into my head and, camera in my hands, in that invigorating space I started to slowly dance. 


I understand your skepticism but I was there! 
That's how the bamboo made me feel. No drugs!

By the time I finished my SD card had been filled with hundreds of images and designs. 









Only some worked at the end, but the entire exercise was like a deep, relaxing meditation.
The rain stopped. It was time to leave.

Banana grove was different. Banana plants stood in rows, like good soldiers ready for inspection. Some were blooming and producing fruit at the same time. When did they plant them? Three - four years ago? Only?

Banana plants always look a bit unkempt and these made no exception. There were drying and dead bits and pieces hanging off the trunks. Leaves, green, yellow or brown were swaying in various directions and the ground underneath was littered with leathery sheaths of banana blossoms.

Banana bud and fruit.

It is no easy task to explain the structure of the banana blossom and fruit formation. 

Basically, the purple bud consists of layers of colorful leathery bracts that can unfold upwards; one by one.
Underneath are the flowers - some female, some male. 

As if descending a ladder the bracts creep downwards, opening as they go. In their wake appear layers of fertilized flowers that rapidly develop into green fruit. 
The banana.

There are many kinds of bananas - some good for eating, some great for cooking or frying. And many sites in the vast world of the web explain that the banana flowers are full of vitamins and nutrients beneficial to human health.

When all is done, the thick bracts fall off and they quickly rot on the humid ground below providing fertilizer for their own and their fellow plants alike. Ingenious!

As if all that were not enough the faithful banana offers also its leaves: for many purposes, a serving or cooking dish, a shelter, an umbrella - just check it out for yourself.

Amazing how much can one learn thanks to a horny ram! I packed and left to join the friends. Ram was nowhere to be seen. Only Rocky and Rambo, father and son, were still faithfully waiting for me at the gate of the electric fence.

Stories from the ranch

Mexico: HUMMINGBIRD HILL RANCH - The Others

A ranch is a ranch! Ranch means animals. And animals need care!



I though that it would be easy to photograph these "domestic" creatures but NOPE!

They ran free and they did not care for their portraits being taken.
It was somewhat like photographing wildlife.



All of my previous wildlife experiences came handy here; out of many shots of these piglets only two are somewhat sharp.

Milli and Pilli .... the famous pair, well described in Carlos's book.

Seriously, they were hilarious!

What an artistic morning it was!
Pastoral scenes in the morning mist.....
Ewes with their lambs peacefully grazing on the "sacred hill".... 
Catching the spirit of the motherhood and playful youth ....what could be more beautiful?

How about adding an image of a tiny flower in the grass!

Getting that tiny blossom in focus an onto my SD card was a big task! Not larger than the fingernail on my pinkie it was fearfully hugging the ground as if to hide from the ever grazing sheep. 

Down on my knees! 

I was totally absorbed in the task, the eye to the camera, knees and elbows being abused by the underlying rock, rear end pointing upwards to the sky. Must get that flower!!!!

Thankfully he made a grunt!!!

The ram had been watching patiently for quite a while and finally decided to take action. He chased Tisha several times before; so - why not to butt the crawling Canadian?

Luckily I heard the sound and turned back in time!

Abandoning my equipment I backed onto the very top of the hill. 
But no! 
HE was the boss!

And HE advanced and assumed my place while I continued backwards down the hill and towards the fence.

HE knew!

Carlos showed up in a nick of time! Not realizing how scared I was, he called his darling ram by name and that was it. 
The boss gave me one more warning look, then royally departed  for a scratch and a cuddle.

Saved for today!

And with that the ram and I came to a mutual understanding:

He will take care of the sheep and I will explore the banana  and bamboo groves. Maybe the flower garden.

But all that only behind the electric fence!

And never from his hill!

Point taken.

Mexico: HUMMINGBIRD HILL RANCH - December Gardens

December!
It is cold!, you said.
Cold for the hummingbirds, cold for the butterflies, cold for the flowers to bloom. Cold for your gardens!

Are you kidding me?















Don't you remember what WINTER is? It looks like this!!!!

And this is a Winter's blossom.

Glasswinged butterflies have see-through wings.

But look around your December garden!

The very first thing I see are the colors!
Zinnias, impatiens, calla lilies and so many more;  even roses!

The second one are BUTTERFLIES!

Not too many birds, that's true: only ONE hummingbird and a peregrine falcon on a far away tree.

So yes. It must be winter!

Glasswinged butterflies (Greta oto)

Eastern Black swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes asterius)

Black Swallowtail! 
No, it does not sit still! Like all the other swallowtails it is a large and powerful butterfly that, just like the rest of the animal kingdom, does not like being photographed.

Its flight patterns are unpredictable but patience and observation might increase my chance.
Just like the rest of the living world this guy cares about only two things.
Food and sex.

And the plants know that!
They too need to reproduce and they will employ this beauty to help them to carry on.
They lure him by nectar but they are smart; they do not produce the sweet stuff  non stop.
Why should they? Let the butterfly come in, feed a bit and carry the pollen to another flower. Then take a break and produce more nectar later on.
The butterfly might bring other flower's pollen in return.


So the colorful insects fly here and fly there - checking for the sweet droplets cleverly hidden at the bases of the colorful petals.

Mexican Silverspot (Dione moneta)

Rather than chasing after these gems it might be better to sit still and figure out which blossoms are producing, chances are that the butterfly will come back more than once.

That at least that is my approach.

Mexican Silverspot (Dione moneta) with closed wings

Eighty-eight (Diaethria astala)

Eighty-eight (Diaethria astala), wings closed

Eighty-eight - 88 - is an elegant butterfly inside and out!
Wings closed it shows gray, black and red with all accompanied with a pair of matching antennae.

Wings open and a flash of iridescent blue comes out of blue so dark it's almost black.

The Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae) showed up as well.









And the flowers?
Though there are many others, zinnias seem to be the most popular flowers of all.

Tisha saw me running about her gardens - camera. tripod and all.

"Going crazy yet?" she asked. "Here!" She handed me a large leaf.
"I picked it up for you."

All I could do was gasp. A Sphinx Moth caterpillar!

"I'll take you out this afternoon," she promised. "We will find more stuff."
She is just as crazy about nature and photography as I.

Where there are insects, there are spiders ..... tiny but colorful. It takes effort to photograph them in their environment. Not only because the silky spiderweb sways in the breeze but mainly because of Baby. Baby? Yes, the cute inquisitive puppy of a street origin. Every time I manage to focus without making the spiders to run for cover, Baby shows up, happily wagging its white tail.
As if to say: 
"What are you doing in the bushes? I can certainly help!"

Brugmansia is known as "Angel's trumpet". It is as toxic as it is beautiful. It is closely realted to Datura.

Leaf hoppers (family Cicadellidae) on zinnia.

OK, I did not get the green leaf hopper in focus but still: this is for the entire WWW  (Whole Wide World) to ask: why does a tiny half-a-centimeter bug need such beautiful color combo? Green-white and gold! 
Only a giant of my proportions would ask a question like that.

Calla lily (Calla palustris)

Tisha's rose

Tropical Kingbird (Tyrannus melancholicus satrapa)

It is winter all right; just in a different part of the world.

This handsome Kingbird knows it too.

Poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) got its name from Joel Roberts Poinsett

But it is December and Christmas is coming to Hummingbird Hill Ranch.