Bee in oregano flowers

This bee was taking advantage of the many wild oregano flowers.  These smell like oregano; I wonder what her honey tastes like?

Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
F Number	6.3
Focal Length	45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/200
Exposure Program	Program AE
ISO	160
Advanced Scene Mode	Off
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Flight of the bumblebee

This is one of those pictures that speaks for itself.

F Number	9.0
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/640
Exposure Program	Program AE
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Bee in the snow

Spent a good deal of time chopping ice (compressed snow) this weekend.  Incredibly, found a bee on the top of the snow.  I have no idea where it came from; the ground is completely covered several feet deep.  All I can guess is that it came from someone's house.

F Number	8.0
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/100
Exposure Program	Manual
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Green bee!

We have an accidental sunflower in one of our flower pots. Don't know if a squirrel stashed her winter cache there or what happened, but it's about 3.5 feet (1m) tall so far, and it's one of those varieties that has a single flower.

Well, the flower wasn't there last night but it was open in the morning, and wouldn't you know it - a bee found it. And not just any bee - this one is green! I never saw one that shade before. Look at all the pollen she has on her legs, wow what a worker!

Busy bee

When the first flowers open, the first bees arrive to harvest the nectar. What an amazing coincidence! :-) I wonder if the bees go out when it rains?

Persistent bee

We have a few weeds growing in the hedge. I call them weeds only because that's what everyone calls them. We always called this stuff goldenrod; I think that's right but I'm no botanist!

At any rate, there aren't many flowers left in bloom, but these flowers are going strong. They should; they're natives here and are very well suited to the terrain and weather. Since these are among the last flowers, they have been attracting a steady stream of bees. This particular plant had a honey bee (seen here), a yellow jacket and two bumblebees on it at the same time.

It wasn't until I looked at the photo on the computer that I realised just how much work this honeybee was doing - look at the pollen packet on her back leg!

Apple picking

We share the orchards with all manner of creatures. Some great and some small. One creature that is intimately associated with an orchard is the bee. In the spring they harvest the nectar and pollinate the flowers - they make the apples possible! In the autumn, when the apples are ripe and fall to the ground, the bees harvest the sweet apple itself.

All the local orchids have bee hives to help with the pollination and several harvest the honey and sell it. Apple blossom honey is wonderful!

Busy bee

Summer is winding down, and the bees need to get their last stores in before all the flowers are gone. This bee is basking in the sun on a milkweed pod; I don't understand her motivation here; maybe she's just visiting with the yellow-orange aphids.

I'm realising I take a lot of macro photos, and that's probably because the old digital camera I have (a Nikon Coolpix 950) allows very close shots - almost as good as my trusty Minolta SRT 35mm film camera with all the nice lenses.

Busy bee

It isn't easy to catch a bee when she isn't moving at high speed, and I consider myself lucky that this one took a moment to savour her nectar find so I could take her photo. I wonder what the honey will taste like?