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).
Pollination is the process by which the pollen grains of the flowers are transferred from one place to another with the feet of the bees and the butterflies.