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Ouch…so late in the day for this daily bee. And I’d prepared it so early, too…

Anyway…check out her pollen basket. She’s got it packed so full yet is still collecting. Guess she knows better than I what she can carry. Really enjoy getting them in/on the rock rose, too.

There was the tiniest sweat bee on the allium, but I missed the focus repeatedly (flappy windy). Was so small – could have fit at least a dozen of them in that blossom bowl that the bee is on. But I did catch a nice side view of the honeybee. I think that pollen on her back is from an iris. Whenever they crawl into an iris clean, they come out pollen-backed like that. I really do like the purple and green. Such a spring combination.

I thought that this was a penstemmon. But it grows and flows like a ground cover rather than standing up and flowering from a single stock. This is a pretty neat plant but so frustrating for shooting bees. One of the neat things about it is that sometimes, all of the blossoms point exactly the same way. So in the wind, it they move in a synchronized way like they’re under water.

Frustrating because the bees crawl all the way up in and get obscured. And they stay for a good while. And I’m not always that patient. So I sit looking through the viewfinder waiting…ensuring focus constantly…and then they pop out…and pop back in to another so very quickly. And the guessed focus is usually wrong. But…neat blossoms and neat bee. And I like to, when I can, show bees on whatever is blooming. The bees like it – so so must I.

Stopped raining after…36 or so straight hours. Still cloudy, but there were a few bees in the Utah Giant cherry tree. Here’s one:

She’s cleaning her tongue with her front legs as she’s flying. I’ve never seen that before. This photo isn’t as sharp as it could be, but the pollen on her tongue and in her pollen basket are both in sharp focus. Not sure I understand the rest. Shot at kind of a slow speed, compared, though. Anyway, I think it’s pretty neat to see her grabbing the pollen off her tongue as she flies. Always something new…

Apart from being really cute, I like that leaf to the right (especially the prickly edge), the pollen basket starting to fill, and the shadows. Pretty blasty midday light, but that’s when the crocuses are open…and the bees are out. So that’s what you get.

The overburden and underburden (I get a squiggly line under that – but it should be a word if it’s not) in the garden in the spring is worth mentioning. And you’ll see a lot of mayhem in the early spring pictures. If you have a look at yesterday’s shot, you’ll see some needles. They’re from a bald cypress. Weird one because it’s a conifer that loses its needles every fall – after they change color.

As far as it goes, the crocus pollen has always looked especially sticky to me. You don’t get that much in today’s shot. Just a great face. Happy spring. Supposed to be 67 here tomorrow??

Kind of soft light on everything. And soft focus except where it’s not. Focus is really an interesting thing. Sometimes it can seem random when I look at the shots of bees that I’ve taken. Not intentionally random, of course, but because I wasn’t doing my job all that right. In my life, it’s much the same. See if it looks that way in your mirror…

Great detail on the fuzz of the blossom. The bees’ favorite, blooms for months, and doesn’t require much water – or other care at all. Seeds a bit, though, and tends to wander…

Stained glass wings today.