Bees

This summer there have been more bumble bees around than the past few years. I was a little worried that the same thing was happening to bumble bee populations as with the honey bees elsewhere, however, it seems as though their numbers are increasing again, at least in this part of the province.

I try to photograph bees every year, especially in and around the yellow and orange nasturtiums and pink fireweed that grows around my property. I notice that some bees like to crawl inside the nasturtiums and spend a few seconds feeding on the nectar the flower has to offer, while they barely land on other flowers before taking off again. I assume some smell or chemical lets them know whether there is enough nectar to justify crawling deep inside the flower.

The bees barely touch a pink fireweed blossom before flying to the next one. Very seldom do they stop on a flower for any more than a second. You have to focus and shoot fast to capture bees in focus on either of these plant species.

Feel free to check my Bees Gallery at: http://www.lanephotography.com/bees/bees.htm