To Bee …
A string of bees. With the spiders closing in more than 20 have moved to my side of the fence.
A female, four blue bands, a little disturbed so I only took a few shots.
The same little beauty from a different angle, and bg.
Once more unto the depths. Out of the water with a tiny hitch hiker – springtail?
And she’s on the move … being a bee. — Click the pix.
… or not. Is that a question?
The bees have no problem. It’s the not …
Bees to the left of me, bees to the right.
It’s the being down the middle that matters.
Ho, ho …
© Mark Berkery ……. Click those pictures for a closer look
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Nature's Place 
Excellent photos! Always love sharing them with my daughter, I love that your pictures make her more interested in nature.
Thanks Tracy. An interest in nature needs nurturing in this world, it can be an antidote to the stresses of it too. Always pleased to hear the children enjoy the pictures.
Very nice photos and I find these bees fascinating to look at because they are so different from what I see here in the middle of the U.S.
Thanks David. It is interesting, all the different forms of bee.
Beeeautiful beeeasties:) I especially like the line of bees, is that a common sight? Hope the recovery is going well.
That’s how they sleep at night. When the string is full a straggler is relegated to a less popular string.
Yes thanks S …, still have to be careful for a few weeks to give things a chance to set.
It sounds a bit exposed: do they not build shelter for themselves at all? Glad if all is going well:)
Compared to the Orange Tail Resin Bees they are exposed but it’s a relative existence. What seems lacking in one respect is made up for in another. The BBB’s are far more agile flyers and can handle the elements better, they are also built for holding on all night, with those jaws/mandibles that lock around a stem below a certain thickness and the proboscis that rests below the belly.
Doing well enough, thanks. M
Neat! A little collembolan phoresy maybe?
Same thing as springtail?
Yes!
Great …
Excellent photos!
Thanks Kathy.
Love the hitchhiker!
Yes indeed, always a bonus to find the unexpected.
Don’t think I’ve ever seen a Blue Banded Bee sitting they always seem manic. As expected, great shots.
They are busy darting about the garden during the day but at dusk they find somewhere to rest for the night. Usually in the shade of some overhang with appropriate size threads/stems hanging they can grip in their mandibles.
Thanks Mac …
So neat. Love those blue banded ones! They really do have a third eye, even three third eyes. :) Now I will know to freeze in front of bees. Very interesting to capture that little hitchkiker. Thank you for the wonderful photos.
Beeing Happee. :)
Kristina
Under the veranda, three bee hotels have around 50 females coming and going all day building nests for their many young. Amongst them are various parasitic wasps and other smaller bees that make their nests in proximity for survival, safety in numbers I suppose, and other values such as food and shelter. I enjoy standing in amongst them and they never land on me, just buzz me now and then if I’ve just presented, and if I don’t move they don’t see me except as a part of the landscape to be traversed.
Thanks Kristina.
It doesn’t look very comfy clinging on just by the jaws like that and her body not touching the branch – just shows how strong those jaws must be! Or how light her body is.
Given they use those mandibles to excavate the dry earth, work hardened resins and hold on in tropical storms, wind and rain, they are built for the job of surviving. The Blue Banded Bee also has a proboscis tucked under her, flips forward when they want to sup the nectar, that also supports her weight on the branch, probably helps lock her on too.
I love your four blue band bees. Your other bee (Osmia?) is unconcerned with his hitchhiker. The bees are usually unconcerned with others they may meet, they have their own agenda. Amelia
They are even unconcerned with the preying wasp that lay in their hard built nests, it seems. Maybe because one bee only protects or defends one nest and when it’s built and sealed she leaves it to nature.
Thanks Amelia.
Oo la la! What great pics you have here. Made my day. Thanks!
Thanks Vibha.
Amazing photographs!
Thanks Belinda.
These are great as always! So, there are two really big greenish eyes on the side of the first one’s head. Are the little black dots on its head eyes also? They don’t seem symmetrical. Are there others I’m not seeing? Love the chain of bees. Love all the rest too. You are so good!!!
Being,
Mary
Thanks Mary.
Here’s a good description of bees eyes – http://www.honeybeesuite.com/my-teacher-says-bees-have-five-eyes-shes-creepy/ or this – http://www.keeping-honey-bees.com/compound-eyes.html
The three black domes are primitive eyes, serving to detect changes in light above, where the big eyes don’t see directly – the direction a insect predator would probably come from.
Beeing. M :-)
Great shots again Mark.
I have been trying hard with my Oly macro but cant get near your standard. My bees are very busy and wont sit n pose . Hard to sharp pic when on the move even when i stretch the asa to 2500 lol !
Thanks Ken. On the move is difficult, I usually wait for them to stop at something, sealing the nest, feeding or recovering from a watery experience. Whatever opportunity presents really. Flash helps sharpen the image, I never leave base ISO.
Great pics!
Thanks Melissa.