Category: Bumblebee

Territorial Leafcutter

I used to post the pics first and then the narrative. I think I’ll go back to that. Don’t know why I changed it. So…narrative under the pic on this one.

The bumble was minding her own business there on the cone flower. That blurry leafcutter decided to knock her off. Didn’t even move her. When they hit each other or honeybees, normally the one who got hit flies off. Not the case with the big bumbles. They just seem to shrug it off and keep going. Kind of a messy shot, but it’s pretty dynamic. Wish it were about 1/10th of a second later, though. Just before impact.

Rate this photo

Been Waiting a While…Lavender

Wasn’t able to look for bees the past couple of days (art festival interfered), but today one lavender had a couple of bees. Just starting to open. Here’s a great Hunt’s bumble. Check out that orange pollen – huge chunk of it. Absolutely didn’t come from the lavender and I’m really curious about it. Happy lavender day.

Rate this photo

Bonus: Back Catalog Bumble

So today I shot bees for a while. Sorted through the shots and figured I had about 200 or so that I could publish on the site (if I wanted to). Lots were similar to each other, of course, and that could be less than interesting. But I say that to point out that during the winter, when the bees are dormant, I do have lots of back catalog to use to come up with the daily bee.

That said, normally during the winter I scramble to find a new bee every day. That’s my habit, usually. That’s frustrating, though, in that the evenings seem to compress…and I run out of time. And bee posting can become a chore. So…frustrated with myself, I frontloaded February and March of this year – picked a shot for each day of those two months. Meant to take some pressure off myself. But…with the return of the bees (and posting “shot today” bees), I find the folder called “ready to post” burgeoning. Not that that’s a bad thing, but…

So…here’s the shot that I would have published today had the bees still been dormant (or I had not shot, etc.). It’s a great bumble (Hunt’s) on that pollen-throwing workhorse, the blanket flower. Bonus! Enjoy.

Rate this photo

Among the Allium

Love the shapes in this one. Parts of orbs. Really wonder how the bumble sees it. I remember learning as just a really tiny kid that bees saw in “ultraviolet”. Didn’t know what that meant (and I’m still not really sure that I do) and I remember thinking about that lots. Coming to the understanding that I really was limited in what I could see (and, those elephants’ and dogs’ ranges) and hear and maybe even taste and feel and smell… Wondering if there were other senses that we (collectively) had not yet figured out. There are some real lessons here that I won’t yammer on about. One of my first memories, though, of pondering the world of bees…and then and thus…my own world, too.

Rate this photo

Dark Sunflower

So I’ve sheduled shots about a week in advance because I’m (or have been) out of town at a festival in Tubac, Arizona. And this is the last day of the pre-scheduled posts. Maybe some new crocuses soon? Tomorrow? Hope it will be warm enough in the afternoon to get the bees out.

Anyway…don’t really know why I chose to include this shot. It’s so dark. But it’s oddly compelling – the background, mostly – the shapes (and you know I’m a shape guy). And the bee. The pollen. The dark detail. The focus. Something to it.

Rate this photo

Tricky Light on the Sunflower

Shot this one toward the very end of the day, obviously. The available light (and it really does change through the day (blue-er/cooler in the morning vs. yellower/warmer in the evening) really amplifies (not the right word, but you do see what I’m seeing) the yellow yellow yellow. Did you see the other bumble in the background? Unlike lots of other bees, the bumbles seem to share quite well.

Rate this photo