When we say the word pollinator, I think most people’s minds usually go to butterflies and honey bees, but there are so very many more out there, too. Besides butterflies and honey bees we have moths, flies, ants, beetles, hummingbirds, and bats, just to mention a few. Although sweat bees are a type of bee, there are many other kinds of bees besides honey bees. Some of them don’t even make honey! This ligated furrow bee (Halictus ligatus) is a type of sweat bee that does indeed make honey. It’s also a great pollinator as you can see. This particular bee had just finished feeding from the tickseed flower and was crawling across the center area. All of the yellow coloration on its hair is pollen that has stuck to it, almost certainly from multiple flowers. These bees don’t have pockets on their legs for storing pollen like honey bees do, so instead they use their hair. In many ways this is more effective for pollination, although less effective for getting the pollen back to the hive. I love photographing both insects and wildflowers, but I really enjoy capturing the relationship between plants and their pollinators. It’s such an important process in keeping life going.