With 2012 almost behind, here are some photos about where I had gone during 2012. All trips I do, I do them for bees :)
1. I was at the ABRC (American Bee Research Conference) meeting in DC in Jan. Saw Chinese flowering plums (meihua， Prunus mume, Rosaceae) bloom. Raining and no bees
2.During March, I shot bees on magnolia, crocus, Japanese cherry and honeysuckle, these flowers were bloom 3-4 week early.
3. April 6th, mustard was blooming in Wuyuan, Jiangxi..
4. Chinese milk vetch was also blooming there.
5. April 11 an Apis cerana foraging on a tree flower, Choerospondias axillaris, Anacardiaceae, Nanchang, Jiangxi. Fruits of this true was used to make paste, then dried and used as a condiment in Hunan, where I grew up.
6. April 13, Yingtian, Hunan (my hometown). An Apis cerana foraging on Chinese milkvetch (Astragalus sinicus, Fabaceae).
7. April 15, Fujian Forestry and Agricultural University. A bee foraging on a type of aster. .
8. April 29. Jilin, Jilin. first time for me to see Chinese plum ( æ花) blooming. Many bees foraging on this flower, which is quite similar to almond.
9. April. A bee foraging on a Corydalis, Fumariaceae or Paperveraceae.
10. May 7, Botanic garden inside the Botany Institute, Beijing. Manybees foraging on irises, a rare thing to see here.  More photos here.
11. June. Taiyuan, Shanxi.
12. July 14, Heartland Apicultural Society had its meeting in Missouri. I went to the Missouri Botanic Garden twice, once to shoot bees, and once to see the Lantern Show by a group that came from China.
13. August 5, The first ever Michigan Honey Festival was near Flint….(sigh, forgot that little town’s name).
14. Sept 12. I did a two week volunteering in Bangladesh (supported by Winrock International). This lake was near where I was staying. People living in shacks across take boats to come to streets. I guess they had no other access. These ferries are cheap (5 takka per person, 1$=80 takka). The minimum wages there are $37 (USD) per month….people were poor but very friendly. see my earlier my blog about there.
15. After Bangladesh, I flew to Kuala Lumpur. The Asian Apicultural Conference was being held in Kuala Terrengannu, which was another hour away by flight. This is the royal palace in Kuala Lumpur. I shot Apis cerana and Apis andreniformis drinking sugar juices from a juicing machine in my last day at Kuala Terrengannu.
16. Oct 4, On my way home from Malaysia, I had about 10 hours in Seoul, Korea. I ventured to the city by train and found bees (! quite cold) in Soul Square.
１７.　Apis mellifera working on a type of amaranth. I must have shot bees on 6 different species in that little flower garden in the center of the square.
１８.　I have seen this pretty Salvia (Lamiaceae) being foraged by bees! Lucky me….
１９.　There seems to be some musical even coming up at Soul　Square. No time to attend though.
ï¼’ï¼.　November, I was invited to attend a “bi-straight” bee meeting (and became an adviser to one Taiwanese bee group) in Taiwan. I stayed a few extra days for visiting bees and friends who are bee-related. This is the Museum of Royal Palace.
２１.　I spent 3 days in Kentin. The southern tip of Taiwan. This is a beach in South Bayå—æ¹¾. The two spherical structures are those of the third nuclear power plant. 。
２２.　Beautiful scenery at the Cat-mouse-tip(象鼻头)。
２３.　Water and rocks at ä½³ä¹æ°´
ï¼’ï¼”.　佳ä¹æ°´
２５.　We got up at 5 am to see sunrise at Dragon-Rocks, about 15 min away by a moped (which I got free at the nice hotel!)
２６.　but too many clouds and we saw nothing.
ï¼’ï¼—.　At one park (goose-nose tip park, 鹅銮鼻公å›), near the exit, I saw this plant. So pretty! I tried to shoot the flower only, but then bees came (this happened many times! bees and I agree!). It says it is a Leea guineensis, Leeaceae, but the flowers and leaves reminded me of a Caprifolicaeae. Some put it in Vitaceae, and yes the flowers do remind me of grape flowers.
Nice Christmas color!
So, I flew 4 trips to Asia during 2012 and that made me Platinum. Now I can get Econmy Plus free of charge! I did not know about this or I could have flown back that way from Taiwan (I became Platinum after I finished my incoming trip to Taiwan).
