16th Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Natural World
Canarian Black Bee collecting pollen from a flowering Tajinaste

A Canarian Black bee collects pollen from a flowering Tajinaste plant, endemic to the island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands. According to the book “Fashion Food, gastronomic dictionary of XXI century” by Julia Perez and Jose Carlos Capel, “Tajinaste honey is a rarity considered by experts as one of the best honey in the world for its organoleptic characteristics.” The recent introduction of honey bee hives in the park, between the months of May and October, in order to collect nectar from red Tajinaste and Teide broom, which grow at 2200 meters attitude, brings more than 100 beekeepers and 3,000 hives in that area. But the influx of honeybees means competition for these Canarian black bees.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 05.2016
Date Uploaded: 05.2018
Photo Location: El Tiede National Park, Spain
Camera: NIKON 1 J4
Copyright: © Jennifer Holzapfel-Hanson