179 replies to this topic

[Voidley]

While I still love photographing my ants, I can't deny that bees are far more photogenic. They're larger, more colorful, sit still longer, and always have flowers in the background. I took a really great photo of a honey bee a couple days ago, and I figured I might as well share some other favorites of mine from over the years. The bees shown in these photos are (I think) Apis mellifera, Bombus impatiens, Bombus griseocollis, and Xylocopa virginica. They seem to really like milkweed!

 

 

 

The photo I took the other day

Same bee on a different flower

Cute little Bombus (griseocollis?)

Apis mellifera coming to hang out with a Xylocopa virginica

An unfortunate male Apis mellifera who I'm assuming was kicked out of the nest for winter

Bombus impatiens having a snack

And I really like this Apis mellifera photo

Edited by Voidley, December 23 2023 - 1:54 PM.

[ANTdrew]

The photos didn’t work for me.

[Voidley]

The photos didn’t work for me.

 

Sorry about that, I think it should work now. It seemed to only be working on my browser and not on mobile. I'm not sure what's going on with that but I edited it and now it works on both so I'm gonna take that as a success.

 

Also, is it better to upload the files or to put the photo in a google doc and copy it over? The google doc method seems to prevent the images from rotating randomly so I did that for one of them and uploaded the others.

[ANTdrew]

Try this site: https://postimages.org/
Choose hotlink for forums.
The first two flowers are Asters, and the Bombus does look like griseocolis. Nice shots!

[100lols]

There was a bee on my broom! Figured, why not, I’ll share with my bee loving fellow forum members.

Edited by 100lols, October 12 2023 - 10:30 PM.

[gcsnelling]

Album: Bees

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Attached Images

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[Voidley]

More bee photos! Here are some that I've collected over the past couple of weeks. Currently, I'm enrolled in a photography class at school where we're learning how to use a camera. Each lesson introduces a new photography principle which we practice outdoors. Every time we’ve done this I've tested these principles on bee subjects—I hope my teacher isn’t getting annoyed with all the insects . Sadly though, most of the bees are gone until next spring, so I figured I'd post all here until I take more next season.

 

Apis mellifera on a panicled aster

Apis mellifera drinking from another aster

 

Bombus impatiens sitting on an Echinacea. This one was taken on an iPhone so it looks a little worse, but at least the wider depth of field captured some nice cityscape.

 

As a side note, is this a queen? I’m not too knowledgeable about how bumble bee colonies work so I don’t know if a queen would be out like this in November. I’ve got a couple more photos if someone would be kind enough to ID her. I was able to get some close-ups because she wasn’t moving around much, I think she might have been sick/injured

 

Anyways, here’s an Apis mellifera climbing on some asters

Another Apis mellifera on an aster. This one really amazed me with her black and yellow stripes.

Apis mellifera on an aster

Cute Apis mellifera on yet another aster

Bombus impatiens drinking from an aster

Back to Apis mellifera and asters.

Here’s an Apis mellifera cradled by a calliopsis flower

An all-black Apis mellifera drinking from an aster—I never knew they could have such a variety of colors

Apis mellifera in flight! I want to try getting some better in-flight photos, but this is the best I’ve got for now.

Apis mellifera landing on an aster

Apis mellifera perched atop some—you guessed it—asters.

Not a bee, but trying to look like one! This is a bee-mimicking hoverfly.

[ANTdrew]

That is definitely a queen. It probably is impatiens, but the super dense yellow on the thorax kind of looks like bimaculatus. Those queens usually show up a lot earlier though. Queens don’t move around with much urgency until they’re mated. Maybe she was just cold?

Edited by ANTdrew, December 3 2023 - 2:31 AM.

[100lols]

Awesome pictures!!! Inspiring me to get on the bee photography grind. I’ll be back…

[ZATrippit]

Here's a Bombus queen, either B. terrestrus, B. ruderatus, B. hortorum or B. subterraneanus. They are the 4 bumblebee species in NZ and are all practically identical... sucks that they're invasive too since they're so beautiful and cute. I found this queen right in front of me on the sidewalk this morning. She was mating with a drone who meagerly left after... finishing the job.
I'm a bit surprised to see them still mating, as bumblebees supposedly mate in early spring, yet now it's mid summer. Perhaps that's just the european species.


I believe this a European Wool Carder bee, a recent introduction and pest. Found them on some Lamb's ear in Akaroa. I think this was a male, as it was noticeably bigger and the markings differ from the other bees, but i could be wrong so feel free to correct me. There were dozens buzzing around the plants.


Here's another pic.
I initially thought they were hoverflies, but when I took these photos I realized I was wrong.

P.S. ANTdrew, I plan to get a macro lens soon

[ANTdrew]

That’s definitely a wool carder bee. They are invasive in my area as well.

[UinorJohnes]

Bees are truly captivating creatures, aren't they? I once had a similar fascination with ants, partly because of their bite-free interactions. Creating a thread for bee photos sounds like a fantastic idea! By the way, have you seen the tips on https://www.mklibrar...eep-bees-away/?They might come in handy, especially if you're getting up close and personal with bees.

Edited by UinorJohnes, March 10 2024 - 10:52 PM.

[ANTdrew]

A Melissodes bee on my Carolina jessamine.

[ANTdrew]

Anthophora bee on Carolina jessamine:

Edited by ANTdrew, April 13 2024 - 1:56 AM.

[ANTdrew]

A pleasantly fat Bombus bimaculatus queen searching for a new nest site.

[ANTdrew]

Osmia bee. Not sure of the species.

[ANTdrew]

Ptilothrix bombiformis on a mallow blossom.

[ANTdrew]

Melitoma bee exiting a morning glory flower.

[ANTdrew]

A photo of the elusive Bombus fervidus.

[ANTdrew]

Melissodes bimaculata: