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Bees (a lineage within the superfamily Apoidea) are flying insects, closely related to wasps and ants. There are approximately 20,000 species of bees, and they may be found on every continent except Antarctica. Bees are adapted for feeding on nectar and pollen, the former primarily as an energy source, and the latter primarily for protein and other nutrients. Most pollen is used for food for the brood. Bees have a long proboscis that enables them to obtain the nectar from flowers. Bees have antennae almost universally made up of thirteen segments in males and twelve in females. They all have two pairs of wings, the back pair being the smaller of the two; in a very few species, one sex or caste has relatively short wings that make it difficult or impossible to fly. Many species of bees are poorly known. The smallest bee is a dwarf bee (Trigona minima) and it is about 2.1 mm (5/64") long. The largest bee in the world is Megachile pluto, which can be as large as 39 mm (1.5"). The most common type of bee in North America is the Halictidae, or sweat bee, though this may come as a surprise to natives, as they are so small, and often mistaken for wasps. This information is taken from the Wikipedia Website Encyclopedia.
All I wanted to do was get a few basic facts about bees in general, as a base for posting in my Journal. However, this is a study well deserving of a lot of time, and that is not possible here. I am personally fascinated by all bees, and have never been stung by them unless I have invaded their hive area unknowingly. I can sit among flower beds for long periods of time and observe their busy habits within inches of their activity, and never get the least bit of attention from them. On warm sunny days I like to take the camera with me just to see if I can capture a shot or two. Most folks might find this boring, but as stated previously, I find it fascinating. I plan to make it an ongoing project when possible.
Entries and Updates
Jun 16, 2006
I have a large spread of geranium 'Biakovo' which literally is covered by hundreds of blooms for most of June each year. On one of my camera tours I was surprised to see several Bumble Bees working the flowers for nectar. Furthermore I was amazed at their speed and agility at collecting nectar while balancing on the fragile blooms. Rarely did they remain on a flower longer than two or three seconds. Being an average camera buff, I decided to try to capture at least one shot of their actual 'balancing act'. Not only did I get the shot, but I noticed the seed pods had already formed on the spent blooms, and this is something I had previously given no thought.
Jun 16, 2006
After observing the Bumble Bees on the geranium, I noticed they were all over the Heuchera patch nearby. I was fortunate to get a picture, but not as clear as the previous one. The white arrow points to the action.
