View allAll Photos Tagged bee
The drone brood (male bees) is on the increase at this time of year. About 10% of the cells are now occupied by drone larvae like these two and usually positioned towards the outside of the brood nest, surrounding the worker cells. You can spot them immediately by the elongated raised sides and the larger diameter (6mm across compared to 5mm for workers) to take the much fatter drones. The size of the cell is what determines whether the Queen fertilises the egg as she lays it to give a worker or not to give a drone. This quirk of social insect reproduction means that workers are related 50% to the queen and drones 100%. The consequences of this system (haplodiploidy) are complex but are the basis of the usual explanation of the extreme altruism in social insects and the worker sterility - I can explain if anyone is interested :-)
This is an odd posting: Disappointing photos. Today, while waiting for my wife to fetch me from the ophthalmologist, I stopped to gawk at bees busily bouncing about flowers for nectar. Hundreds of them gathered and proved no threat to me as I closed in and captured 20 shots, using iPhone XS.
Grumble. Can the Apple cameras do no better than this and the next two, which are the best of a bad lot? I experimented with standard and Portrait modes—and all the pics look artificial at best, and not sharp enough at worst.
On this first of the trio, composition kind of works because of the similar position of the flying bee in the foreground and the one in the blurred background. That’s the only quality redeeming the photo for me.
Honestly never been so scared in my life, try getting up close and personal with bees, only using a 50mm 1.8 lol!
Anyway, ALL the bees were on a lavender plant, great for them, not so for me haha
Triggered by StopShot from www.cognisys-inc.com . See equipment here www.flickr.com/photos/13084997@N03/3818938773/in/photostr...
I know it sounds mad, but i`ve never been able to get a photo of a bee who is relatively in focus, so i`m well chuffed!
There are many Bees in the UK that do not live in hives nor do they live in great colonies armed with stings that could cripple. These bees dont carry a sting and live a lonely life. A solitary life in a hole in the ground. One such is the Leaf Cutter Bee which builds its nest from bits of leaf. The underside is orange and are usually seen flying with bits of leaf in their jaws.
Nice to pick up the camera on such a beautiful sunny day. I have a steady stream of bees visiting one particular shrub in the garden.