Julie, Bees are strange.
They 'gas up' with only the amount of honey from the hive that they will need for the flight trip. If they get blown off course by the wind, they seldom have enough 'gas' left for the trip back so they are in search of anything that contains sugar and aphids secrete honeydew under the leaves of plants. That is probably why they are licking the undersides of leaves. When I see bees in distress (like only able to walk on the ground or on plants), they buzz their wings but are unable to take off. I put out a saucer with a few drips of raw honey or sugar water next to them. They lick it up 'gas up' taking only what they need, and off they go.

Lou

FYI, some plants have something called 'nectaries' - sort of pores along stems & leaves that secrete nectar. I often see ants collecting it on my beans & okra...

I agree bees are strange. I've seen them go after the coffee grounds and compost tea that drains from the containers in my veggie gardens while leaving the flowers alone. They also make repeated trips into my shadehouse to get pieces of perlite from the pots and take them back to the hive in the tree next door. I find them fascinating.

Wow! Thanks. This is fascinating. Lou, I didn't see any aphids on the fiddlewood, although I do have aphids in my garden because I don't spray. Usually the ladybugs, green lacewings and hoverfly larva take care of the aphids for me. I'm glad to know about putting honey down for bees on the ground. Thanks!

Carol, I'll bet the fiddlewood does secrete nectar. The bees were absolutely entranced.

I have mostly average wild bees all over my garden. I have lately seen some sweat bees. They are really beautiful. I recently sprayed some beneficial nematodes in my lawn and I hope they don't bother the sweat bees who I think nest in the ground?

Trini, that is really weird behavior. I never knew this. Do you think they are looking for particular nutrients?

Thanks for all your answers. Very cool!
Julie

Julie, I don't know but I pop in on the Bee Keeping Forum sometimes and it's interesting to see some of the things that they post. Apparently bees have very specialized behavior and being lucky enough to have a huge hive next door, I've noticed a lot of different things about bees. Now, everytime one comes around me, instead of shoo-ing it away, I stand still to see what it is going to do. I'm never disappointed.