Still, that said, I took advantage of the sun on Monday and had a fine time snapping the wee beasties below.
Rainbow wings
Head down
Busy Bee
Flower FeastingI do love bees, I think there's something quite magical about them. And bee-rescuing is a popular past-time in our house. They inevitably end up in the swimming pool, so it's out with the honey, lots of warm breath on very frail bee bodies (sort of mouth to mouth resuscitation...) and a bit of sunshine - and then it's such a joy when they revive and fly away.
The Massed Pink of the Indian HawthorneWhat I love about the mass flowering shrubs of spring is how they attract bees. If you stand next to them in the morning you have the pleasure of hearing the bees singing. Sigh, so good for the soul, that.
Bee in pinkYep, much better focusing on nature than the nuttiness of markets, politics and similar such shenanigans. At least nature is real, whereas the rest strikes me as being an awful lot of hot air and all smoke and mirrors.
29 comments:
Oh yes, bees are so great. In Europe they have suffered so much from an imported illness...terrible
disaster. Now our bumblebees have to do all the work, but I love them, too. Those were great photos!Thanks!
I love your photos, Vanilla! And the bees... although I'm a bit afraid of them.
Unfortunately there aren't many left here in Canada, at least where I live. Only bumblebees and some wasps, though not too many of these either. I had heard that they've been badly affected by the cellular phones towers. Why cannot people ever do anything that doesn't harm nature?
I, too, rescue all kind of little things from my pool... :-)
Loved the bees and the blossoms :)
Happy Barbeque Day dear!
save every single one you can, av. A lot of heavy-duty problems over here, leading to massive losses of them. If there's one insect out there humans owe most of their crops to, the bee is it.
plus, they are just plain nice, perfectly willing to make friends with people who don't wave frantically and swat away at them. Heck, how would we feel in the same set of circumstances, right?
(and - as usual - gorgeous photos.)
Such pretty pictures, I like sharing spring with you since I've now passed into fall. A beekeeping friend once told me that if you waste a drop of honey, you've wasted a bee's entire life.
Here! Here! I couldn't agree more. Your piccies are bloody brilliant! How'd you get them to pose?
The pinks of the flowers (is t a rhododendron?) are stunning. Makes me wish it was spring here too.
It's awful about the bees in Europe and elsewhere, isn't it, Angela - I saw the Nat Geo programme about it a couple of months ago - quite frightening.
Thanks, Vesper. It's awful that there are hardly any left where you are - I can't imagine life without bees. One theory was that it was as a result of cell phones but it seems now to have come down to a bee virus.
Thanks, Sameera :-)
In the Nat Geo doccie on bee decline, RLB, they showed farmers in China having to hand pollinate their fruit orchards - costs a fortune in labour - and could never be done elsewhere.
And yes, I agree, they're perfectly willing to make friends - a fine example of socialisation!
I've heard that saying too, Kat. My father used to keep bees when I was a child - the hives lived under the eucalyptus trees at the bottom of the garden. Eucalyptus blossoms make great honey.
I just asked nicely, Janey and they were perfectly amenable! :-)
No, the shrub isn't a rhododendron. If forget what it is called, will have to pop into the nursery to remind myself! :-)
just amazing photographs..
Just had a look for some info - seems they have found this Kashmir bee virus over here, but maybe not quite as prevalent as in the rest of Europe. A few traditional places have hives here, and there are lavender fields nearby, which presumably attract them(lavender honey?)
We're just turning the central heating on!
Thanks, Rambler!
Lavendar honey is actually quite nice, VV, though my favourite remains eucalyptus honey, but maybe that's just because it's what I'm used to. The virus problem seems widespread and a real worry - but apparently one answer is to cross breed honey bees with African wild bees, which are resistant to the virus.
Braai ...... That comes from the Dutch braden, I'm sure.
Lovely bee pics. I'm always getting wild bees in my garden, which is great and yes they sing.
Great pix av. Love bees too. We have a hive in a cavity in one of our stone walls. I put in a partition to protect them from the cold, but you can move it and get a lovely view of the hive. Nice docile little chaps (or chapettes I should say).
lovely bees!
Such perfect pictures! You must have an amazing camera. One caption could be, "Ah, just suck it up!"
We have huge bumble bees here whose only job is to pollinate. They're not the least bit aggressive but just sound fierce when they all buzz loudly just before they enter the hive at night.
You're the bees knees AV. My sister lives next to a bee keeper and their hives were a little close to the house at one stage, had a couple lodged in the curls - ouch! Nice macros and I envy your zoom (clearly it is bigger than mine!)
I loved this, words, themes and pics. Braai? As we call what here? Barbecues? National BBQ day? I wonder where you are. Must read you more often. Down under, I suppose.
its so awesonme in pink.. looks so peaceful :)
It most probably does come from the Dutch, Monique given that Afrikaans is a Dutch-based language and it is an Afrikaans word! :-)
Aw, so glad you're taking care of your bees, Ernest, you're obviously a good chap! :-)
Bzzz, Candy, bzzz!
Ooh bumble bees, MOI, I think they're amazing - love those big bumbly furry bodies! Though they've always struck me as being a bit "cross" ;-)
No, no, Bains, those weren't taken using a zoom lens, those were taken by me getting real close with the standard 35 - 75 mm lens. Next time I'm going to stick on the macro filters to see if that makes a difference.
No Vincent, not Down Under - well, not that Down Under, not that far down. Bottom part of Africa, actually :-)
The pink does give a nice peaceful, gentle feel, doesn't it, Lena :-)
Oooh, I don't like bees! But I love the flowers - beautiful.
CJ xx
The photos are amazing but I'm afraid I have a phobia of bees.
Love the photos, can't wait to show my little guy when he gets home from school.
National BBQ Day! I will bring the potato salad!!!!
Ah, then you wouldn't have approved of me handfeeding a bee honey today, I guess, CJ :-)
Oh I'm sorry to hear that, Marie, phobias are such awful things. I have a friend who has a bird phobia.
Oh goodie, we love potato salad, Domestic Diva! And hope the little guy enjoys the pics! :-)
Ace pic, all the detail! Love it. I like bees...and spiders but for different reasons.
I agree, Nicky! There is no BS in nature! Ever!
So lovely to see spring and bees at work in your beautiful pictures (gotta get a macro!), while here we have been falling into autumn quite precipitously over the last week.
The first image is stunning, a poem really. Next to my parent's house there were two ancient linden trees, and in early summer I awoke to the bees' buzzing sound, a wonderful memory. In the evenings, my bedroom was scented with linden flower fragrance.
Whenever I see bees I am always reminded of one of my favourite Roald Dahl short stories "Royal Jelly".
ah i love bees - what a fabulous celebration of these busy creatures! thank you for the beautiful pics too :-)
This is beautiful, the pictures and your attitude.
These are beautiful!!
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