iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

beespeaker @loriweidenhammer.ca · 06/10/2026

Gorgeous fall day at UBC Farm. Tacos by Ay Mamacita!

Sign for the Mayan Garden surrounded by sunflowers.

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beespeaker @loriweidenhammer.ca · 02/10/2026

Highly recommended! www.sciencefriday.com/articles/cal...

The book cover: The Call of the Honeyguide: What science teaches us about how to live well with the rest of life by Rob Dunn.

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beespeaker @loriweidenhammer.ca · 01/10/2026

Always grateful for a thirsty bumble bee gyne sighting this late in the year. May she overwinter successfully! #bees #yvrbees

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beespeaker @loriweidenhammer.ca · 27/09/2026

We had a wonderful time at the Harvest Festival in Slocan Park yesterday. Special thanks to this little male eastern bumble bee that hung out on my hand for half an hour, charming the throngs of people. #bees @bcnativebees.bsky.social

male bumble bee on my palm with yellow flowers

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beespeaker @loriweidenhammer.ca · 18/09/2026

I love the way she is tucking into that fuzzy mealy sage blossom! #megachile #victoriabc #bees

female leafcutter bee drinking nectar from a purple mealy sage blossom

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beespeaker @loriweidenhammer.ca · 18/09/2026

Throwing down the challenge: Get outside and iNat some bee butts! If you are in BC you could have the honour of uploading our 112, 000th observation in our BC Native Bee Tracker Project! @bcnativebees.bsky.social

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beespeaker @loriweidenhammer.ca · 17/09/2026

So grateful to be with the beautiful gary oaks on a September blue sky day. #victoriabc

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beespeaker @loriweidenhammer.ca · 13/09/2026

We bought a lovely bouquet from Petal and Pollen Flowers based in Crossfield, AB. I perched a little B. ternarius hitchhiker on my finger and she gave me a wee sting to remember her by. #cochranefarmersmarket #bees

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beespeaker @loriweidenhammer.ca · 08/09/2026

Leafcutter bee interventions on fireweed leaves. #cochranealberta

Evidence of leafcutter bees gathering nesting material from fireweed leaves turning red in the fall sunlight.

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beespeaker @loriweidenhammer.ca · 08/09/2026

I was pretty shocked to see ducklings today in Cochrane, Alberta! Does anyone know what species they are?

Mother duck and four wee ducklings in a pond.

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beespeaker @loriweidenhammer.ca · 08/09/2026

We lost our beautiful Aunt Florence yesterday. So grateful mom was able to hold her hand one last time as we sang to her. She has been released. Saw this butterfly today and thought of her.

a mourning cloak sunning its wings on the forest edge

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beespeaker @loriweidenhammer.ca · 05/09/2026

Leafcutter bee calling cards on fireweed. #cochranealberta #bees

oblong cuts used to line the nest of leafcutter bees

circular and oblong cuts of leaves used to line the nest and make walls between cells

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beespeaker @loriweidenhammer.ca · 05/09/2026

Seeing some of the last Alberta boys of summer. #cochranealberta #bees

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beespeaker @loriweidenhammer.ca · 01/09/2026

Saying good-bye to the Vancouver dudes before I head off to Cochrane, Alberta to visit family. #thedudesprevail #Megachile #rileyparkcommunitygarden #bees

Male leafcutter bee on my thumb. We named him Bert.

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beespeaker @loriweidenhammer.ca · 31/08/2026

Nothing like peak season veggies and flowers grown by the practicum students at UBC Farm! #rileyparkcommunitygarden #ubcfarm

a smiling UBC farm person arranging the vegetables

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beespeaker @loriweidenhammer.ca · 31/08/2026

Feeling very grateful for our event at Riley Park Community Garden yesterday. Special thanks to Anya Chase who produced the event with funding from the Neighbourhood Small Grants program. #rileyparkcommunitygarden #bees

A quartet of bumble bees wake up slowly on asters.

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beespeaker @loriweidenhammer.ca · 28/08/2026

Time to start saying good-bye to the end of summer bees. Let's share our highlights of this year's bee encounters. This event is free and family friendly and we will bee there, rain or shine! #bees

Lupines and roses decorate the info on our event: Aug 30, from 12:30 to 2:30 pm. Riley Park Community Garden, Vancouver, BC.

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beespeaker @loriweidenhammer.ca · 26/08/2026

Great event last night down at the beach with Christine Thuring of the BC Native Bee Society for GRIN BC.

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beespeaker @loriweidenhammer.ca · 24/08/2026

Late summer fashion tip: Pollen pants are in season! #melissodes #nanaimoestuary #bees

Female long-horned bee with long silky branched hairs on her back legs for collecting pollen to provision her nest in the ground.

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beespeaker @loriweidenhammer.ca · 23/08/2026

Please join me next Sunday for my final in person bee workshop of this summer. It's free, it's family friendly and it's in a beautiful location. #rileyparkcommunitygarden #bees

Poster for the workshop with the details: Aug 30 12:30 to 2:30 pm Riley Park community garden in Vancouver, BC.

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beespeaker @loriweidenhammer.ca · 21/08/2026

Reached a milestone this week on iNaturalist. Thanks to all the folks who take the time to post their bee observations. (Especially those who post at least three different angles and crop their photos.) 😉🐝

40001 identifications made for others (mostly bees)

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beespeaker @loriweidenhammer.ca · 20/08/2026

Horn-faced leafcutter bee at our Nanaimo Bee School. #bees @bcnativebees.bsky.social

female leafcutter bee on Douglas's aster

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beespeaker @loriweidenhammer.ca · 18/08/2026

I had the privilege of meeting one of my heroes at Nanaimo Bee School. Lynda Stevens is a talented photographer and iNatter. Her dedication and enthusiasm is amazing! Please consider buying her book. All proceeds go to the Nanaimo Area Land Trust. #bees nalt.bc.ca/product/comm...

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beespeaker @loriweidenhammer.ca · 17/08/2026

Catching and releasing bees in a jar can sometimes give you views of bees that reveals anatomical details that can help ID the specimen. #Colletes #nanaimoestuary #bees

pollen collecting setae and pollen-coated tarsal claws

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beespeaker @loriweidenhammer.ca · 17/08/2026

At the hullo ferry terminal in Nanaimo, a male brewer's blackbird the staff has named Fred has learned to open the motion sensor doors and clean up any food on the floor. Today he was fed a pistachio as a reward for his ingenuity. @hulloferries.bsky.social

Fred has also learned how to leave the building on his own and does a regular visit in and out.

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beespeaker @loriweidenhammer.ca · 17/08/2026

An intimate moment with a Triepeolus cuckoo bee at Nanaimo Estuary during Native Bee Society of BC bee school taught by Bonnie Zand. Still buzzing from meeting such awesome beeple. #bees

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beespeaker @loriweidenhammer.ca · 12/08/2026

Fireweed, goldenrod and pearly everlasting are blooming up on Cypress Mountain. #bcnativebees #bees

Back of the same Andrena mining bee on pearly everlasting.

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beespeaker @loriweidenhammer.ca · 11/08/2026

Questions asked by a small boy at the Uplands Bioblitz . . . q: Who owns the grasshoppers here? a: No one owns them. q: Can I take this grasshopper home? a: No, it lives here. q: Can I catch this grasshopper? a: No, we've already caught it once and now we're just admiring it here. #bornfree

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beespeaker @loriweidenhammer.ca · 11/08/2026

Another great moment at the Uplands Park Bioblitz bee walk was when a female Colletes I had on my hand starting blowing bubbles to concentrate nectar after I had just talked about that process! Some folks got good photos of it! I really did feel like the bee whisperer! Haha! #bees

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beespeaker @loriweidenhammer.ca · 11/08/2026

No idea who this little fledgeling is in Uplands Park, Victoria BC. It had no fear of humans.

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beespeaker @loriweidenhammer.ca · 11/08/2026

This venerable lady leafcutter perched on my hand and let many people photograph her for the Uplands Bioblitz bee walk. So grateful. She is worn and tattered and still working the gumweed. #victoriabc

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beespeaker @loriweidenhammer.ca · 09/08/2026

There will be folks at the bioblitz with much better photos of these, but I am so happy to see a bucket list insect: garry oak leafhoppers!!! #uplandspark

leaf hopper family on a garry oak branch

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beespeaker @loriweidenhammer.ca · 09/08/2026

Seeing the gumweed bees again is life-affirming. #victoriabc #bees

female Melissodes on Grindelia integrifolia

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beespeaker @loriweidenhammer.ca · 04/08/2026

My heart goes out to all those displaced by wildfires and affected by the smoke in the air. Bee well. #bees

Yellow-headed bumble bee on flat-topped verbena.

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beespeaker @loriweidenhammer.ca · 02/08/2026

Posting bee observations on iNaturalist means you are contributing to scientific research that can help conserve native bees. Plus, you are more likely to get multiple people looking at your observations and getting the best possible identification from your photos. #bees

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beespeaker @loriweidenhammer.ca · 28/07/2026

Little Melissodes microsticta drying out before she starts work for the day. Ants were farming aphids on the elecampane, so of course I got covered in them! #rileyparkcommunitygarden #bees

Female M. microsticta on my thumb. Also an ant.

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beespeaker @loriweidenhammer.ca · 26/07/2026

It's raining today in Vancouver. Bees will be hunkering down for the time being. And when the sun returns, it will be back to beezness. #bees

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beespeaker @loriweidenhammer.ca · 23/07/2026

Please join us on August 2nd! Let's use art to imagine "thinking like a bee" in the Riley Park Community Garden in Vancouver, BC.

Poster with illustrated flowers and photos of bees inviting you to a free workshop on Sunday Aug 2, 12-2 pm at the Riley Park Community Garden in Vancouver, BC.

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beespeaker @loriweidenhammer.ca · 20/07/2026

A little leafcutter bee casts a shadow on a mallow leaf as she forages in nodding onion. #bees #rileyparkcommunitygarden

A leafcutter bee in flight over her shadow on a mallow leaf as she approaches a cluster of nodding onion florets.

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beespeaker @loriweidenhammer.ca · 14/07/2026

The big ladies have moved into the perennial border at the Riley Park Community Garden, feeding on bee balm and sage. This one stopped on yarrow to give herself a good grooming. #rileyparkcommunitygarden #bees

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beespeaker @loriweidenhammer.ca · 13/07/2026

Saw another one of these crazy bumble bee mimic flies. This one's got a bit extra on the back end! (?) #rileyparkcommunitygarden #wannabees #bees

Fly impersonating a bumble bee on snowberry

back end business of the fly on Echinacea

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beespeaker @loriweidenhammer.ca · 10/07/2026

Halictus rubicundus is a ground-nesting bee that seems to do well in urban settings. That doesn't mean we should take her for granted. Every time green space is paved over, we lose potential habitat for this lovely gentle bee. #victorygardensforbees #bees

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