I've got some sort of bee obsession going this year. Maybe it is that I have my camera/phone on me all the time and simply catch more shots of bees?
The fellow above was struggling to get airborne off the dirt. So I picked some yarrow and enticed him (her?) onto it them held it up in the wind And off he flew, letter me get a nice shot of him launching. This was a huge bee--easily the side of the first phalange of my thumb.
The bees love the sunflowers and often just hang out while working the nectar. I can get pretty close (often within 6 inches) before they get annoyed.
Alas, my joy with the bees is tempered by my hatred for the wasps. I have two nests in the yard. One is out of the way and I am going to let autumn rid me of these wasps. The other nest is right by the front door in the dirt. I'm currently flooding it in the hope they will sod off.
But back to the bees. The diversity of bee types is amazing. Who knew there were so many different kinds and such small ones as well.
And now back to planning for the looming apple-tomato double onslaught.
Definitely a female - male bees copulate with the queen, and are otherwise useless. So much so that they are kicked out of the nests to die of starvation in the fall so that the hive doesn't have to expend the energy to keep them alive.
ReplyDeleteCool info, thanks!
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