Mining Bee rerun
The first of the spring reruns, an episode from April of 2010.
“Pussy willow” is a name that refers specifically to a willow shrub called Salix discolor but is commonly applied to several small willow species (and few of us can actually tell them apart, anyway). It blooms early and copiously; the sleek, fuzzy, grey buds (an early stage of the male catkins) soon mature, producing pollen-bearing structures and attracting bunches of early spring pollinators. Especially mining bees (family Andrenidae), which are among the first flying pollinators of the year.