Black bee fly, Anthracinae, Bombyliidae.

ID credit: John Carr

I like the way the bee has its leg through the centre bits of the flower.

I happened upon this bee on a rather overcast day on the trail walk.

Nikon D3100 55-200mm lens with a Raynox DCR250 attached.

I need advice on how to get better results with the Raynox. I see others with great pics but cant get the same result. I only ever get a fraction of the insect in focus but others seem to get close ups fully in focus??? HELP!!!

Lip na Cloiche, Ballygown, Mull.

Honey Bee

we were sleeping in the field next to this bees nest... maybe wasn't the best idea we've had, but it sounded good at the time.

This carder bee (so called because it cards moss to make its nest) is one of the commoner species of bumblebee in the UK. There are other rarer species with similar colouration (B.humilis and B.muscorum) but the dark hairs on the legs make this a Bombus pascuorum.

If you know anyone who successfully photographs bumblebees then give them a big pat on the back because these creatures are really difficult to shoot. They move constantly and the black haired ones absorb even the most powerful flash lighting, reflecting little back. Without a flash, and even at high ISOs these bees are just a blur unless depth of field is sacrificed against shutter speed.

The brown colouration of this bee does make it an easier target, as does the compound Sedum head which keeps the bee in the same place for longer .

My first attempt at marco photography!

Tamron 180mm 3.5 Marco lens.

June 23 201

Bee

RMIT City Campus, 2011

this dead bee (or… something…) has been hanging out in my plants for a while.

My first capture the a Bee's eye...which I love seeing.

www.garethcoddphotography.com

Another Bee macro shot, taken with my Canon 100mm USM Macro lens.

Found dozens of this species mating and digging nests on calcareous grassland with open sandy areas. This female was feeding on Alexanders.

Thanks to Hulterstad for ID :)

A Coelioxys sp. bee (ID thanks to Matt Smith) in my garden. It's sitting on a euphorbia flower which gives a good indication of size. So far an ID has eluded me.

2015PAD 123/365 (3/5)

By Heather Moreman

Bee at Sakonnet Vineyards, Little Compton, RI

I find the bumblebees very difficult. The closest I can see for this is Bombus lucorum- white tailed bumble bee. However the colouring seems very different from in the pictures i can find (maybe they are a bit different in Ireland). There are lots and lots of them with this same coloration on the ragwort so it is definitely a very common species.

Bees gathering pollen

First time i have found one of this species :)

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Uncapped honey in todays hive. Smelt lovely.

Bee seeks pollen from some Himalayan Balsam on the bank of the River usk. 70/250mm Canon lens, handheld iso upped to 400 to get the fast shutter speed

Bombus Pascuorum on Cosmos in St Peters Church Garden, Fairwater, Cardiff - rear view.

Mason bee Osmia rufa. I assume this is a male

Close up of a bee

Megachile xylocopoides

Triangle Park

West Cape May, NJ

According to BugGuide, this is an unusual sighting for the area, and the species may have only recently colonized south Jersey.

I recently bought a new macro lens and have been playing around with it shooting flowers and bees.

Apis mellifera

photo by dita