Bumble bees – Pollinators at Work

~ 'Amusives' by Margy

Bees shouldn’t be so nice and fuzzy.
– Cynthia Copeland Lewis –

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My new Macro lens has been working as hard as the insects in the yard! Particularly busy are the Bumblebees. These are wild, native bees that form small colonies underground. They are very efficient pollinators in our part of the world.  In the fall all but the fertilized queens will die.

Aerodynamically, the bumble bee shouldn’t be able to fly, but the bumble bee doesn’t know it so it goes on flying anyway.
– Mary Kay Ash –

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This is another type of Bumblebee,  not nearly as colorful as the one with the orange band on its rump!

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I’m looking forward to looking for more bugs now that I can take portraits of them! Apparently our Province has about 20,000 species of insects – I wonder how many I will find in my backyard! However many there are, there is an interesting ebb and flow of populations which I can see in the insect damage done to some trees and plants.

What kind of insects are the pollinators in your yard? Do you plant anything special that they like?

30 thoughts on “Bumble bees – Pollinators at Work”

    1. Hi Pensioner – I’m thinking it is a wasp too. I’ve sent the photo off to a website owner who specializes in bugs in our province. Hopefully this person will be able to name the buzzer for me.
      The owner of the website got back to me, and my ‘wasp’ is actually a hoverfly, so I have corrected my post.

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  4. Those pictures are amazing! Here’s my bee story. A couple years ago one of our neighbors started letting someone keep hives on his property. One spring day when the trees were budding (before I realized what was going on) I came home to hear this incredible humming/buzzing sound all over our property. Sounded like powerful electricity running through wires. I walked around the property trying to figure out what was humming. Eventually I looked up and the trees were filled with literally thousands and thousands of honey bees. Needless to say it freaked me out a little bit. It still happens now and then certain times of the year. Doesn’t bother us anymore since we know what it is! Bees are wonderful creatures as long as they are not stinging you!

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    1. Hi winsomebella – Macro envy must be a syndrome of some sort. I hesitate to call it a disease, because I had it too and it went away in a matter of minutes once I used the lens…

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    1. Hi Mags – A big learning curve with this lens. Enough light is critical because when I get in close I am also blocking much of the light. A very calm day is important too. The closer I get, the more I can see the movement of the flowers, which makes it harder to focus.

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    1. Hi Joy – yes, I remember all the cats well! Glad you like the photos – a nice reminder of home I expect. Paint away!

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  10. I’m amazed you can get such crisp shots so up close. When I use the telescopic lens on my camera and my heart beats, the picture get blurred. 😐

    Love your work!

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    1. Hi Lorna – I’d like to say I have a very steady hand, but I think it is more just luck. That and I have the camera set on full automatic except for the focus. So that makes it luck and a smart camera.

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  11. Those bee portraits are so good, them little flyin’ furballs oughta pay you– I think a nice jar of honey would be very appropriate!!

    I got to visit a big herb garden a couple of weeks ago. There was so much butterfly action– I was very jealous! Lovely work, Margie– always a pleasure to stop by. : )

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    1. Hi Mark – an herb garden would be fascinating, and I expect very attractive to butterflies. I haven’t had much luck photographing moths and butterflies. They are very camera shy.

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  12. Your Macros are fabulous, the clarity you capture of the tiny aspects of bees and flowers is awesome. 🙂

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  13. These are “wow” shots. What kind of filter do you have that will produce the same “wow” for faces?

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    1. Hi Barb – I doubt there is a filter, but amazing things can be done in photoshop! That is why celebrities look so good in magazines, isn’t it?

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    1. Hi odorunara – Bees really are very fuzzy and cute. They don’t seem bothered by my presence at all.

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