I got a nice email from a guy called Craig this morning. He asked about my gear setup for bees. I replied to his email, but it bounced. Not sure what the problem was, so I thought I’d post the answer on the site. It’s long, so I decided not to post it in-line and clog things up. If you’re interested, you can find it here: Gear Setup
Month: March 2020
Bumble on a Cone Flower
Not much to say about this one. But lots to like.
Looks like it’s going to warm up in the next few days…and that means the bees will be out for more than an hour or two. So much is starting to bloom. Those fireworks in slow motion. The squills and crocuses are fading being replaced by more daffs and tulips. The viburnum and forsythias are firing. I love spring.
Another Honeybee on another Sedum
From Fall of last year. Look at how she’s grabbing the flower with her…what are they? Toes? I’ve seen them pull looser petals off (especially the heavier bees) and fall to the ground and then, after a bit, fly right back. I always imagine the bee thought, “what the…??? Well, back to it!”
Hyacinth tomorrow…or maybe a tulip. Some good shots from today I need to go through. I love spring.
Met several lovely neighbors today (that’s yesterday – Sunday) as I was in the garden and they were out for walks while observing the order to cower in place. Or is it shelter? Anyway, we maintained the appropriate distance between us as we talked and I truly enjoyed the interaction. As we get further into this, I can only imagine that real interaction among people will be all the more necessary and important. I guess I’m suggesting that we still can and should be social (we are social creatures for sure) while respecting what we’ve been asked to do.
Bonus – Straight out of the Camera
My mail carrier (package delivery on a Sunday?) asked me if I’d “shot today’s bee yet…” I almost felt bad explaining that today’s posted bee came from sometime last summer. So…
Here’s a bonus bee straight out of the camera unprocessed apart from the strange crop. Posted even as the SD card continues to copy to the computer. I think it’s a fun shot and you really get a good look at anemone guts.
Honeybee on Lavender
This picture seems a little wonky to me. But I’ve looked at the original several times, and it’s pretty true to it. So much detail there both in the bee and the flower. And, of course, the lavender is fantastic. So many varieties of it, too. And the bees (and every other pollinator) just love it. It does take up some space, but when it’s in bloom, it’s magnificent – and fragrant.
It does get a little flappy in the wind, but most of you don’t have a camera to your face trying to get a tack-sharp bee when you’re enjoying the lavender…
A couple of other things: First, I’ve been a little discouraged with the traffic to the site lately – wondering if it’s a worthwhile thing to be doing with my time. (Of course it is, I know, and as the body of work grows, so will the traffic. I do know that.) Second, thanks for kind, encouraging emails that some of you have sent. That these little ones resonate with you, too, is really gratifying to me. Third, (whenever I say I’ve got a couple of things, I end up lying) please feel welcome to comment on the pics here. I’d like to see some dialogue, critique, suggestions, and knowledge shared. The way it is set up, you can put in a phony email address (use anon@anon.com, for example) and your comments will get through (if you don’t want to use your real email address – tho I’m the only one who sees it).
Anyway, I’m having tons of fun with this. And have years’ worth of pics backed up just waiting to be posted. Shot a bunch more today. Tulips, among other things. Maybe some good anemone shots, too – but my computer keeps crashing so I’ve not seen them all yet. Stay tuned…
Native on some Rabbit Brush
Close crop of a very small native on some rabbit brush in the foothills of the Rockies. Shot by thebeegal.
In-flight and Crocus
From last week. Have a number of nice shots from the few warm days I’ll be posting here and there. Woke up to snow this morning, though. Spring in the Rockies, I guess. She does have wings but they’re blurry – you can barely see them, but they’re there. She’s part-way loaded up, going in for more.
That one is nearly full-frame so it blows up nicely into a very large print. That’s one of the downsides of this medium – posting only small pics. But that’s the nature of a blog – and the internet in general.
Maybe a Sweat Bee Lost in a Sunflower
This is one of the tiny, tiny ones. Not the smallest I’ve shot, but really tiny. You can see two of the three ocelli on the top of her head pretty clearly…and how filthy she’s gotten in the sunflower.
These are pretty quick – hard to shoot. And I seldom get a very clear shot. I’m pretty happy with this one, though. Cannot get over the complexity. And she’s showing us a bit of beeneck, too. That delights me.
Bumble with Salvias (I think)
Nice profile of a big bee. The salvia on the right is in front of the bee…and that’s supposed to be bad form, photographically. So indulge me and pretend that it’s behind the bee. Neat shot otherwise.
One of the things that impresses me is the variation in size. Was just now looking through a folder that had shots of a native not much bigger than a grain of rice. I’ll bet 100+ of them could fit in this bumble. It’s kind of fun to watch what the really gracile flowers/stems do with the weight of the bees. Some of these larger bumbles will pull things like the fame flower all the way to the ground. Digressing again.
Bonus – Frustration Bumble
Rather than carp and bore you with the carping, here’s a bonus bumble on a sunflower.