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Bearding Bees
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Bearding Bees

by Jim Zablotny

Gallery: Man & NaturePosted September 5, 2015129 views2 comments

It has been hot and muggy and these honeybees are trying to cool off in front of their hive.This is normal behavior most often observed in robust hives and there's a lot of bees still in the hive working on nectar drying.  I'm going to try to get a sharper version of this--I was about 3 feet from the hive and was wearing no protective gear and the light was fairly dim.  At this time of the morning, all the foragers are present and when in the hive, they function as guards so the odds of getting tagged are quite high.  The hives all smell buttery because they are curing goldenrod nectar. K5 IIs 180mm f3.5 (1/60sec at f8, ISO 800)....................Jim

Comments

2 comments
Comment posted by Marylynne Diggs on September 5, 2015 at 12:13 PM

Very interesting, Jim.  I look forward to seeing more on this.

Registered on December 14, 2010, 122 Posts, 1034 Comments
Comment posted by Nick Bristol on September 6, 2015 at 5:38 PM

Jim, What a cool shot this is! As a former bee keeper for about 12 years this brings back many memories. 

Nick Bristol                                                                                                                                                                             Lone Rock,WI

Registered on February 1, 2004, 752 Posts, 14140 Comments