A few days ago I was photographing the garden.I noticed that there were lots of Bees flying into the purple spired Lupins.I started trying to take some close up photos of the Bees.They were incredibly quick and flighty.I took over 100 hundred photos trying to capture them flying and landing on the pollen rich Lupins.
This is one of my favourite photos of a Bee in flight between the flower spikes.I noticed three varieties of Bees.The common Honey Bee, a Bee with a red fluffy bottom and body, and a smaller round bee.I wander where they go to after they have collected the nectar from my plants. How far do bees fly to get pollen?Is there hives near me or do wild Bees make their homes somewhere near?
This is an arty photo of the Lupin and the bee looking determined to find some nectar to take back away with him.Some of the Bees appeared to have red bags underneath them, like saddle bags.
This is the best closeup photo I took of a Honey Bee?I love how you can see his translucent wings, black and tan furry body, and smooth obsidian eyes.A good photo allows you to appreciate what is gone in a few seconds.
Human farming activities are so tied up with the common Bee.A lot of plants rely on the bee pollinating them as they collect the nectar.I read that farmers in California paid for hives to be shipped to their fields to make sure their crops were pollinated.Changes in environment, and Colony collapse disorder have impacted on Bee populations.My Apple Tree, Strawberry plants, and Gooseberries in the garden have all been pollinated this year by Bees.
I love sitting and watching them flying from flower to flower.I even saw one going into the lip of my Flag Iris today.It walked down the patterned throat under the top petal to get the flowers nectar.Flowers are brilliantly inventive in design to get insects to walk into them to spread their pollen (and genes).
Bees are very hard to photograph when they are buzzing full tilt between flower to flower, but I do love them and the challenge of photographing a welcome garden visitor.
2 comments:
Lovely photos. I find taking pictures of bees addictive. You can keep at it for hours coz your never sure if you got the best shot yet!
Those look like bumble bees to me, at least some of them. I'm no expert but bumble bees don't live in hives. Some of them live in burrows and holes in walls etc. and some in loose 'colonies' in trees.
It looks bulky like a bumble bee. Honey bees have been having problems existing in the wild, at least here in the states. If you see any honey bees they most likely are coming from an apiary; a beekeeper's box hives.
Honey bees here don't look that bulky. The fact that you saw many suggests they came from a colony; live as a group. Some bees are solitary.
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