DC Bugs

I admit it, I can't go anywhere without shooting the local flora and fauna. Here are a few of the bees, butterflies and a moth from DC. They're pretty much the same as the insect I see around here, but I just can't help myself.

Attack Of The Killer Bee

This is a shot I tried to share with you a couple of weeks ago, but Blogger wouldn't cooperate for some reason. But I remembered it today, and here it is. Nothing special, just a bee coming out of a flower, but I thought it was neat. Click on it, and you can marvel at the detail in the big version of the picture.

The Bee's Knees

I love Florida. You never know what you might stumble across. And you never, ever, leave your camera at home. As is usual, I went to Steak 'N Shake for lunch today. When I left, I noticed a bunch of bees flying around my car. A closer look revealed that in the half hour I'd been inside, a swarm of bees had alighted on a palm tree beside my car. I've seen similar swarms before, but they'd never materialized that suddenly, or at least not so suddenly that I'd noticed. I took a few pictures of them, getting closer than you might think safe, then I let the manager inside know that he had some bees outside, and that they'd be gone as soon as they found a good place to build a hive. I doubt if that's going to be good enough for him, so these bees might suffer at the hands of an exterminator soon. But maybe not. There are enough bees dying from that colony collapse disorder already, no need to kill any more of them off.

Mmmmmm, Honey

While I'm bringing you insects from Oscar Scherer State Park, here's a honeybee. I'm afraid I don't know what sort of flower that he's gathering pollen from, but there were quite a few of them blooming along the trail. It was the first time I'd noticed them, or at least the first time I'd paid much attention.

More March

If you're the squeamish type, you might want to skip the calendar page this week. I happened across a swarm of bees right outside my condo last year, so I had to go and shoot them. I had to get pretty close to them to shoot, but I didn't get stung or even buzzed. People seem to have a fear of these insects, as evidenced by the fact that this swarm was killed in it's entirety the next day by an exterminator. I guess we didn't need any honey after all.

Bee My Neighbor

Two ladies were on the sidewalk this afternoon as I parked my car. One of them warned the other not to go near the tree at the end of the street, as it was covered in bees. Being the adventurer that I am, I pulled out the camera and headed that direction. Sure enough, some bees were swarming on a branch, but it was only a few thousand, nothing to be scared of. So I walked right in and stuck my lens into their business. And, no, I didn't get stung, or even buzzed. These guys were too busy trying to keep the queen cool in the middle of this mayhem.