It has been quite warm the past few weeks and no rain. Hard to believe since in the South and North of the country they had horrible flooding. Because of the nice weather here in Umbria we still have lots of flowering plants. Some are quite mixed up and already think it is time to prepare for summer. As any sane species of bee, the Umbrian type loves flowers. So everywhere I see flowers, I see bees. But there is something strange going on, these bees are big, it looks like despite the warmth they have prepared for winter by putting on a thick winter coat! Some research and speaking with a friendly beekeeper however made clear these are no normal bees. And no they are no ‘winter bees’ either.

They should be wild bees. Lovely animals to look at, busy bees as always.