Closer, Closer, Closer

No thanks to the recent storms, almond orchards are encountering Nature's Extreme Makeover--from fluffy popcorn blossoms to tattered petals reminiscent of bottom-of-the-bag kernels.

Still, there's something spectacular about driving down a rural road in Dixon, Calif., and encountering rows and rows of almond trees.

Look a little closer and you'll see the bee hives. (It takes two hives per acre to pollinate California's 750,000 acres of almonds.) 

Look a little closer and you'll catch a bee in the act of pollinating.

Today the cold temperature, plodding rain and incessant wind kept the bees clustered inside their hives.