The very last flowers to blossom in my gardens are a large bed of beautiful purple New England ASTERS. As much as I enjoy the lovely blossoms what I really look forward to is seeing the very large and unusual Blue-Winged Orange-Banded Bumble Bee.

Known as Bombus ternarius. Genus name 'Bombus' is Latin for buzzing while the specific name 'ternarius' refers to the bumblebees' three colors- orange, black and white. A ground-nesting social insect whose colony cycle lasts only one season, they are considered to be superior pollinators because they will collect pollen even in cold weather. They never show up until the bitter end of the season....when the NE ASTERS are the only flower left in my gardens but when they DO show up they arrive in droves.

I always spend some time photographing my ASTERS during the day when the Orange-Banded Bumble Bees are around. Often impossible to find a blossom w/o at least one of these guys busy collecting pollen and, more often than not there's at least two...as in this image.