Plum flowers and plum flowers and apricot flowers belong to the same subgenus.

Plums are a favorite fruit of the Chinese people. China’s annual output is 6.6 million tons, accounting for more than half of the world’s total annual output of 12 million tons. Romania and Sernia, which ranked second and third together, amounted to only 1 million tons, while the United States ranked fourth with an annual output of 390,000 tons.

Plum bees rely on an index of 70%, which means that if pollination is not performed on bees, natural pollination will have a 30% yield. I estimate that American plum growers rent bees for pollination. The annual output value of plums in Michigan is $ 310,000.

There is an old plum tree in front of my office building (Giltner Hall), and I have tasted the plums it produces. However, it produces a few each year, usually blooming with the cherry blossoms at the same time. Every time I go to wait for the bees stupidly, every time I don’t. The next four photos are Li Hua from the campus (taken at 2007.4.20). Unfortunately, it is a solitary bee, and I guess it is an Andrenid. I found out that I had photographed bees in Jilin (2012.5.1, the same time I took apricot flowers)! Of course it is far away (the first five photos), and there are no close-up photos of bees. In these photos, Li Hua is slightly yellowish, which is probably a white balance problem.

1. 遥望万花疑是雪，近观千蜂寻蜜来

—2018·小蜜爱人《李花题记》

2. 小小琼英舒嫩白，未饶深紫与轻红。
无言路侧谁知味，惟有寻芳碟与蜂。
—宋·朱淑真《李花》

3. 火烧叶林红霞落，李花怒放一树白。
—唐·李白

4. 除却断肠千树雪，别无春恨诉东风。
—宋·杨万里《山庄李花》

5. 桃花红兮李花白，照灼城隅复南陌。
—唐·贺知章《望人家桃李花 》 

6. 风揉雨练雪羞比，波涛翻空杳无涘。
—唐·韩愈《李花赠张十一署》

7. 叶暗青房晚，花明玉井春
—唐·李峤 《李花》

8. 枝缀霜葩白，无言笑晓风。
—宋·汪珠《李花 》

9。 立日含青意涩缩，今晨碎玉乱高杪。
—宋·李复《李花》