Of all the shots I have, I really don’t know why I chose this one for today. Must be the pollen. I don’t think it came from the larkspurs. Every plant has both its own pollen (size, color, etc.) – and it seems to end up in different places on the bee, depending on the blossom. Maybe in a few years, I’ll be able to look at a dirty bee and say (definitively) where it’s been. Aspiring again, I guess…
Month: July 2021
Of Thistleballs and Photobombing
Maybe a little more than just photobombing. This leafcutter thought he??/she?? owned the whole section of the garden and kept running into all of the bees I was trying to shoot. I wonder if that’s fun for the bees. Doesn’t seem to hurt them, so I’d imagine that it is. I know I enjoyed running into people playing football. And to be able to do it with one more axis and no concussive consequences? Maybe in another life… We all aspire, I guess.
The Trumpet Vines are On!
First time this year I wandered across the street to the trumpet vines. I’ve been remiss and was very aware of that. They’re just teeming with bees…and wasps. I think they’ve probably been going for three weeks and I’ve missed a lot of opportunities. They’re pretty aggressive plants, but neither I nor the bees mind, I don’t think. The bee’s a little obscured in this one, but I like the colors and composition…and the bee.
It’s Really Summer – Longhorns and Sunflowers…
This might be the first sunflower shot of the year. I love these that are red-tinged. Here’s a longhorn in a neat position. She was grooming herself. The longhorns seem especially fond of the sunflowers. And they’re fairly aggressive and territorial. As I was shooting this one yesterday, another longhorn crashed into her – trying to knock her off/away – three different times. She maintained, though.
Again on the Blanket Flower
Some strange light on this one. Just another honey bee on a blanket flower. Neat echo of another flower there on the left. And some neat effects all through the shot.
Chocolate Daisy- and a Green Sweat Bee
This is an interesting flower. It’s called the chocolate daisy (Berlandiera lyrata) and opens well before the light hits it in the morning. Also closes quite early in the day. So most of my shots of this one will be in the shade. And it really, really does smell like chocolate. It’s fragrant enough to throw the scent for a ways, too.
Another neat thing about this one is that it skeletalizes (if that weren’t a word before, it is now) well – kind of like the allium or money plant. By that I mean that when it gets done blooming and ends up a seed pod on a dried stalk, the seed pod is interesting – compelling even.
The grasshoppers have been hard at work – as evidenced by the damaged petals. But I think that flower makes a great shape in this shot not only in spite of that, but because of that.
Filthy on the Russian Sage
I’m not sure what she’d gotten into before she hit the Russian sage, but whatever she’s dusted with, she sure looks good. I especially like the voids (dark places) on either side of this picture. Nice shapes.
Bumble in Something that is Called a Lily but is Not
I’m really bad at this this morning…trying to get out the door and preload a few days worth of bees. And I’m not taking the time to find out the names of some of the plants I’m posting. And cannot remember – leaky brain. Will happen to you, too, eventually.
But…it’s a great bumble. Some plants seem to keep the bees for a long time – whereas others it’s almost like they bounce in and out. Something to do with how and where they throw pollen – and how much pollen and nectar are available. If you’re only getting a snack, you don’t need to stay long…best hit and go – and repeat.
Two on a Salvia
Kind of a soft, dreamy quality to this shot. Wish the one on the left mirrored the one on the right just a bit more, but you don’t always get what you want. Neat photo, though. The salvia seed lots so, with that in mind, there are fewer around than there were. Pre-seeding extraction 😉
Thistleyballs
Don’t know the name of this flower – and you can’t see so well in this photo – but these are kind of steely-blue thistle balls. One of my very, very favorite flowers, aesthetically. They start out as a spiny globe and open from the top down. They started to open and throw pollen a couple of days ago and I think I’m going to miss most of their show. But I did get a few shots. You can see, at least, very well what the blossoms look like. The pollen on her back is from this flower.
