A new bee…every day
I think this is a leafcutter just finishing up on a blanket flower. There were several in this series, but I liked this one (and this crop) best. I especially like the position/shape of her front legs folded like they are. And her face is perfect!
Heading out today to get some Yellowstone in before the festival in Idaho Falls this weekend. Hoping for some good light and some good shots!
That’s not the flower’s real name. Not sure what it is. But it’s a .neat one and I quite like it. Seeds profusely and pops up all over in the gardens. Fun to see where it comes up in the late spring. And, of course, the pollinators love it. This is a leafcutter bee. Note the tongue at work. And the really neat eyes.
I’m going to be at the Snowmass Art Festival (near Aspen, Colorado) with my stuff on Saturday and Sunday of this week. Drop by and have a look if you are in the area.
The lavender is just now opening. Means summer is starting. Here’s a great bee on a great example of lavender. I like the composition and the colors. The greens and purples seem to do really well together. And I like the green in the upper left, too – a little definition but not much. Good look at her face, wings, and antennae. And there’s not too much of the lavender in the foreground that’s out of focus. Looked great printed. Might be a candidate for next year’s calendar. One more thing to be thinking about…
Right at your face! Look at those full, full pollen baskets. I love ’em in flight. And I love beeface.
And that Mesa Peach…keeps on giving…
I really like their faces. They still confuse me a little because they look so different from different angles. Neat one today, though. Good look at her face and wings. Tongue, too.
2020 has been a hell of a year. If you do anything at all this weekend, please be kind to those in your orbit. Remain mindful of others’ humanity as well as your own. Not a lot we can do about a lot of things, but we can control how we behave – how we treat people.
I wish I liked all the pics I post here as well as I like this one. So many neat elements. I’ve seen so so many on salvias, but this one shows so well how she goes after it with her tongue. Great eye, too. And face.
Strikes me as I type how complex the bee is – then the hive – then the ecosystem is in which they operate. Such balance and equilibrium – and always self-correcting. Nudges here and there, maintaing balance. Could all be a bunch of yammering and confirmation bias about what I need to see in my own world right now…but there are lessons in observing (and thinking about) bees.
Or, as the Bard said:
… tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in everything…
As I like it!
Great pollen on the eye. Tongue is obscured by the flower, though. This one is in full bloom and really attracts bees of all kinds. Yesterday I saw two natives, a bunch of honeybees, and three different kinds of bumbles on this liatris. Gorgeous. And that’s a sunflower in the background above the bumble. Little pollen grains on its eye…
These flowers might be my very favorites for bees. Hard to say. Didn’t shoot for long yesterday, but I got some neat stuff on the blanket flowers – natives, bumbles, and some honeybees. Here’s one of those. Love the colors and the shape of the bee.
I really like bees on sunflowers. I like pollen buckets. And I like detailed beeface. Everything about this one smacks of late summer to me. Neat wing, too.
Click here for the 2021 calendar.
This one’s from the neighbors’ back yard. Have shot at it in pretty bad light for the last three days. Need to get there a little earlier to minimize shadows, but I cannot seem to manage that lately. But…it’s just a remarkable plant. Cannot think of another that I’ve seen a wider variety of pollinators on. Bumbles, wasps, flies, honeybees, natives, etc. Really neat stuff. If I can find the time, I’ll do a big bonus blast of all of the different critters I shot on it. Maybe this winter?
Anyway…love this bee. Great beeface, beeneck, and beetongue. Plus a bonus, out-of-focus wasp. Neat plant.
