There were bumble bees galore at the lavender farm.  Lavender is one of the bumble bees most favorite flowers to visit.  Here is some interesting information from a study done by the University of Sussex in England:

“The tubular flowers of lavender make nectar extraction harder for the shorter-tongued honey bee, which has to jam its head into each flower to get to the nectar, Nick Balfour and fellow researchers at the University of Sussex observed when studying bees visiting an experimental flower garden at the University.  Bumblebees spent 1.1-1.4 seconds per lavender flower, as opposed to the slower honey bee’s 3.5 seconds per flower.  The length of time needed is crucial because bee foraging is about efficiency. The quicker a bee can visit a flower, the more food it can bring back for its colony.  Two seconds faster might not seem much, but multiplied over thousands of flowers the benefit is significant.”

Who knew, right?