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Empire of the sun

3 January 2010 15 Comments Home » Insects etc.

We head into a new decade, while a bee slices
through the humid morning air towards
the empire of the sun.

A honeybee slices through the humid morning air towards the empire of the sun.

15 Comments »

Jeff Muhr said:

Nice photos!

Save the bees, and the “forgotten pollinators” too – bats, butterflies, nectar-eating birds, and even some beetles, and flies.

The flowering plants of our planet can’t survive without them and vice-versa.

# 3 January 2010 at 5:45 pm

Patty Peters said:

Go bees!

# 3 January 2010 at 5:45 pm

Rick said:

Thanks, Jeff and Patty. Hope we stop ignoring the needs of all the pollinators soon.

More biodiversity!

# 3 January 2010 at 5:47 pm

Pete Rogan said:

What a compelling image! All is soft focus but the focused, intent working bee. The world seems to only exist as a background for this singular flight, this single purpose, this solitary bee.

# 3 January 2010 at 9:17 pm

Rick said:

Thanks Pete. Single purpose is right, they ignore me and concentrate on their tasks.

# 4 January 2010 at 8:25 am

Harry Onickel said:

This one looks like a lot of workers who are returning to the daily grind after a holiday time vacation, head down, arms hanging . . .

# 5 January 2010 at 11:26 am

Rick said:

Like the rest of us, Harry? Except bees get no vacation.

# 5 January 2010 at 11:29 am

Diane said:

LOL . . . totally agree with Harry’s response . . . worn . . . tired.

I can see the bee . . . his eyes heavy with sleep . . . just coming off the night shift . . . such industrious workers they are . . .

Love the way he looks like every blue collar worker after a hard shift . . . Good shot, Rick.

# 21 March 2010 at 9:02 pm

Rick said:

Thanks Diane. Forager honey bees, all female, are usually in the last half of their lives, they live about six weeks.

# 22 March 2010 at 8:39 am

Diane said:

Oops, she . . . so much to learn! . . .

Thanks for the insight, always appreciate information . . . and WOW, only six weeks?

Recently learned about their “dances” . . . quite intriguing.

# 22 March 2010 at 10:07 pm

Rick said:

A short life, and nothing but work. Males have it worse.

# 23 March 2010 at 1:40 pm

Diane said:

Rick, how so? I thought male bees (drones) just mate and die?

Is that what you mean by work? . . . and how do you tell the male from female? . . . by behavioral observations?

# 23 March 2010 at 9:42 pm

Rick said:

I’m no expert, but here’s a link to more info on Yahoo: http://bit.ly/cGMotl

“There can be little doubt that a huge amount of pressure is exerted by the drone bees muscles, as it causes him to flip entirely off the queen bee. One of the major authors in the field described it figuratively as exploding sperm into the queen. And there is no doubt that the drones genitals break off and he dies within hours due to massive trauma. So it’s not like there’s a huge or visible explosion or anything.

The genitals are not even jammed in the queen… other males just pull the thing out, mate, and die themselves. A queen will typically mate with (and kill) between 7-10 drones, and sometimes up 17 or more. The queen has internal sacs that can store a volume of semen that would take eight drones to fill, so presumably anything after that is just for fun (for the queen).”

Much more info by googling beekeeping sites.

# 24 March 2010 at 8:55 am

Diane said:

Oh my God!! . . . lol Those poor drones! ouch!! Talk about dying for love! WOW Totally informative, thanks, going to check out the site.

I can’t come to your site without checking out this little bee. She just makes me chuckle each time . . . evokes images of the end of a hard day, might have to order a small print to enjoy at home.

# 24 March 2010 at 5:44 pm

Rick said:

I can never feel bad about working hard knowing how hard these bees work.

# 25 March 2010 at 8:41 pm