POLLEN

These recent lovely sunny autumn days have meant that the bees have been able to quite busily go about collecting stores to see them through the winter. I am often to be found crouched beside their hive, mesmerised by their comings and goings, observing their full little pollen pockets and marvelling at the various colours. In the summer, it's almost a riot of colours but this week, it's been mostly very pale yellow or creamy white on their tiny legs. Thanks to the handy Pollen Colour Guide - much like the pollen equivalent of a paint colour chart, but more for bee nerds, obviously - I can hazard a guess that the bees have been feasting on chicory and borage flowers. Num num.