I'm a buzzin', Mon

We just returned from a weeklong getaway to Grand Cayman.  While gone, we missed some "almost" Caribbean-type weather here in Iowa, where temps reached over 60 degrees!  Still, it was a bit warmer there (pretty much 81 degrees every day). 

While sitting out on the patio of our nice apt. (that's Kathy in the hat), we noticed honeybees flying around the palms.  Dumbly, though I had the camera with me on several occasions, I failed to take a picture.  They were all over the little blossoms that eventually turn into coconuts.  We saw them everywhere we went on the island, so I began to wonder if there are many beekeepers there.  After just a little research on google, I found this link to a blog entry about Otto Watler, a native Caymanian beekeeper.  I think you might find it interesting.  He sounds like a busy, creative guy.  Hopefully he is still tending his gardens, and I wish we had known about him earlier.
Aside from the coconut palms, we saw bees on a number of plants.  Below is a sampling of some of the gorgeous blooming plants we found.  I did not see any bumblebees though I think I did spot some smaller pollinators. It really seemed the honeybees were in the vast majority, though.  It's a shame, given the relative poverty of the island, that more do not try to at least supplement income by keeping bees.  It may be that more do than I'm aware of.

 

Whoops, I think this guy might eat honeybees--and fingers, toes...