Solitary bees - Osmia sp.

Oriental bay, Wellington

Looking through some old photos from 2010, and found this one :)

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Flintham, Notts. - 16th May, 2014

bij of hommel?

On Common Ragwort in Jersey

At Lordington Lavender, West Sussex.

Sorry I haven't been on flickr for a while - it has been a busy summer...

If you are interested, have a read of my blog post on my recent macro photography here.

Bumble bee on peony

Just a few more macros. The bugs are coming and a brief rest from the birds.

baby bee

A first for me... I love Arne I do. :@)

Bee collecting pollen, me hoping not to get stung.

Getting drunk on the nectar

This plant is so tall and is smothered by bees in the back garden. The bees were very busy and it took some time to get a shot lined up and in focus ...

A lil bee on my rose bush. Im going through the pictures that I passed up when I was doing Project 365, this is one of them

The lavender in my garden is full of busy bees

Model: Bee

Make-up: Megan Hurrell

that is me. :)

honey bee

Bee hive destroyed by honey hunters (Thailand)

Sweet 35

I previously posted photos of a large bee fly, Heterostylum robustum. It was in close association with a colony of bees (Halictidae), its presumed host. These were Nomia nortoni:

bugguide.net/node/view/82721

The genus Nomia is said to have only two representatives in the eastern United States, so the species ID was not too hard for the experts, at least. See series posted at:

bugguide.net/node/view/76561

I managed to photograph a couple of the bees closely, and both of those were females with ragged wings. (Seems like the photos are of two individuals, but I am not completely sure.) Both of them seemed to be taking nutrients, presumably salts, from the surface of small pebbles. The whole family Halictidae is called "sweat bees", so I guess they are known for taking minerals, though perhaps just the genus Lasioglossum takes sweat? Very curious. BugGuide notes that Nomia nortoni may have 3-year population cycles. I need to look for the bees and flies again--a very interesting association.

Macro

Bee on a Tulip

Last Summer

RSBP Otmoor 14-08-16

A volunteer Daisy bush in the front yard and a chair provided some good views of small critters.

All worker bees are female the males

(drones) are bigger, they mate with the new queen that is all they are made for.

If the hive becomes short on food the drones are thrown out to die. If they return one of the workers stings and kills him.

Sorry not very clear.

I bought this bee house last summer, not knowing for sure if it would actually attract bees. But yesterday, the second-warmest day so far this spring with an afternoon high temp of 79 F (26 C), there were at least a half-dozen bees swarming about the face of the thing. Encouraging.

At this time of year (Autumn) the social order in a Bumble bee nest begins to break down, anarchy rules, each bee for itself. The Queen bee stops producing certain chemcals which appear to control the rest of the nest. The Queen bee is often attacked and stung to death.

Near Shredicote Wood Staffordshire UK 22nd September 2014