Saturday, November 8, 2008

Camera Critter Meme #31

When I was a young kid growing up in Illinois, my family was visiting our grandparents farm in the central Illinois area. When we arrived on the farm, generally, the rest of the aunts, uncles and cousins would also arrive.

On one particular visit to the farm, myself and a group of cousins had decided it would be a good idea to play in the corn crib. On the way there, one of us found a bumble bee hive and without thinking, jabbed a stick into it.

Well, you can imagine the mass panic which ensued. If I remember correctly, my youngest uncle and one of my cousins (the poker) were the only ones stung. But that area of the farm was not a place to visit for the rest of the day.

Several years ago, while I was wandering around looking for birds to photograph, I came across a flower garden containing dozens of different flowers. And on each flower was a bumble bee. I stood there watching them for a moment and realized there were several different species. It was at that point I decided that I would also photograph bumble bees...which on my next next photo safari, turned into anything flying or crawling around on more than two legs.

Below are some of my better bumble bee shots. The first two were taken in Michigan, near the town of Kaleva. The rest were photographed during my safaris around my hometown of Redmond, Oregon. I have done my best to identify the critters, but please don't take my identification as gospel. I have been known to be wrong.

Michigan Bumble Bees

Brown-belted Bumble Bee

Golden Northern Bumble Bee

Oregon Bumble Bees

Red Saddle Bumble Bee

Morrison's Bumble Bee

Red Saddle Bumble Bee

Yellow-faced Bumble Bee

Morrison's Bumble Bee

Red Saddle Bumble Bee

Red Saddle Bumble Bee

Golden Northern Bumble Bee

These days, you can find me running to a bumble bee I see in the distance. And you will find me dejected when I arrive to late to image the critter. But one thing you can bet on...I will always be looking for bumble bees when I'm out...among other critters.

If you enjoyed my collection of bee photos, go to Misty Dawn's Camera Critter Meme and check out some of the other players. Better yet, join in the fun with your own critter pics.

21 comments:

bobbie said...

Your photos are absolutely wonderful and I really enjoyed the story that you told first. It is amazing how many different types of bees there are.

Lapa37 said...

I totally enjoyed your pictures.I want to tell you one time I found a bumble bee in a container that had water in it the bumble was still alive but couldn't get out.So I grabbed a stick and got him out.I felt so good doing such a good deed.Fortunately he didn't sting me.

Teena in Toronto said...

Nice close-ups!

I played too :)

Christy said...

Beautiful images. I too have added bumble bees as well as most flying creatures to my list of things I will photograph. I have to say though I favor those Michigan bees over the rest. :-)

Misty DawnS said...

I like the red saddle one... hmmm, almost sounds like a name I'd give a critter! Can you believe I just said that I like a BEE??? Geesh, I've come a long way ;-)

Red saddle, yellow face... Yep, finally they start giving critters names that make sense! It's about time :-D

Not sure why, but I'm partial to the photos with purple flowers. Strange, I know.

i beati said...

my passion is flowers. Angle #1 on the pansy quite unique being sucked in..sandy

Juliana RW said...

amazing shots

My CC post this week in HERE. Hope you have time to visit. Thanks.

Juliana RW said...

amazing shots

My CC post this week in HERE. Hope you have time to visit. Thanks.

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Ash: What a neat set of Bumble Bees. I almost did the same thing with bees and changed my mind the last minute.

Cathy said...

Love the photos! I keep running into bumblebees and have started wanting to learn to identify them. Can you point me in the direction of a good reference book?

MAD Maven said...

As a beekeeper of honey bees, apis mellifera, it was a joy to see the other bees - bumbles - all in a row. At Univ of Illinois a prof has a 'beespotter' project documenting all the bees we see. I'll send a link. Drakez

AppleDebbie said...

Who knew there were so many different types of bees? Your photos are beautiful and I enjoyed your childhood story too! :)

Unknown said...

Amazing. I had no idea we had so many different bees in Oregon. I'll have to start noticing the differences.

Anonymous said...

Wow very interesting. I have seen bumble bees, but never really took the time to stop and examine them. The first and fourth ones I'm sure I've never come across before. Nice job

Anonymous said...

Great shots...and I'm also impressed by your ability to ID them!

Reader Wil said...

It was a good decision of yours to take photos of these interesting insects, which we know so little about. CC expands our knowledge of many creatures and increases our love of the animal in general. Thank you for sharing your beautiful photos.

??? said...

I really enjoyed reading your post. The first shot is my favourite, it's prefect.

Jane Hards Photography said...

The Bitih Bumbele bee is dwindling in numbers. I Haven't seen half of the ones you have shown. So beautifully captured.

EG CameraGirl said...

What a nice collection of bumblebees. I especially like it that you know what the different ones are! Very cool.

Anonymous said...

I used to be leery of photography bees until I realized they were more interested in the flowers than me. These are gorgeous shots, each one as great as the next. :-)

Anonymous said...

Always good to see bees...I fear for their survival.