The Flickr Bij Image Generatr

This swarm is from one of the hives in the garden in Brittany. Apis mellifera.

Door Edy van Vliembergen, Graauw
Bij op bloem.

As I was leaving Åva-Stensjödal in Tyresta National Park yesteday, I reached the parking lot and noticed something on a dandelion in a ditch.

This "something" turned out to be this female goldenrod crab spider (Misumena vatia) snacking on a male of some sort of mining bee (Andrena sp.)

The colour of the spider was somewhere in-between the snow white and the same yellow as the dandelion so I'm assuming she was in the process of changing. Presumably she is all yellow by now.

Photographing nomad bees is typically a quite frustrating task. These bees parasitise on mining bees and like to patrol very close to the ground in a zig-zag pattern, looking for a unattended mason bee burrow they can sneak down into and lay their own egg in, kind of like a cuckoo does. This means that they aren't bvery much for sitting still which is a shame as they tend tio look very cool with those spotted compound eyes that I really like.

Here however, I honestly couldn't believe my good look as I found a Gooden's nomad bee (Nomada goodeniana) which landed repeatedly on the flowers of the alum root (Heuchera sp.) growing under the AC condenser unit next to my front door. The stops weren't particularily long, but enough for me to dive in with the camera and get a shot or two of it.

It is possible to tell if it is a female or a male by counting the antennae segments and if I have counted correctly. thias one has 12 segments and thus is a female (while males have 13).

Back in late April, while spring was still starting up here in Stockholm, Sweden, I spotted this little orange fuzzball on a leaf among the flowers in front of my neighbour's house.so I dove down low with the camera. This one is a male red mason bee (Osmia bicornis) and he was probably waiting for the first females to appear (males get out and about first).

So far, I'm quite pleased with the new diffuser.

Part 1 here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/54478117645/

Scissor bee, grote klokjesbij (Chelostoma rapunculi)

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Door Astrid Wiessner Hoog, 's-Heerenhoek
Vrijwel bewolktelucht en wat wind maar niet koud bij de Vest

Door Astrid Wiessner Hoog, 's-Heerenhoek
Vriendelijke bewolktelucht met af en toe frisse wind

Door Astrid Wiessner Hoog, 's-Heerenhoek
Vriendelijke bewolktelucht bij de vijver bij ter Reede

maandag 26 mei 2025

Door Edy van Vliembergen, Graauw
Bij op klaproos.

Heempark Madestein, Den Haag, 16 mei 2025.

Door Wim Vuyk, Wemeldinge
Bij op Skimmia

Bees in the garden

Top: wool-carder bee, grote wolbij (Anthidium manicatum)

Bottom: scissor bee, grote klokjesbij (Chelostoma rapunculi)

Today is apparently World Bee Day. This is to shine a light on pollinators which are so important and without them food production would collapse. This is of course a nice idea, but I can't help feeling that hoverflies got the short stick here. They pollinate just as dedicated, but few people even acknowledge them as such.

The bee in today's shot is most likely a female orange-tailed mining bee (Andrena haemorrhoa) but due to the fact that I didn't manage to get a shot from behind, it could also be a coppice mining bee (A. helvola). Regardless of which species it is - doesn't it look just gorgeously soft and cuddly?

Door Astrid Wiessner Hoog, 's-Heerenhoek
Vriendelijke bewolktelucht bij de Veste