This began as a blog about insects. It's one of my keywords so I thought I'd go with it. Then I was overwhelmed with the amount of images and how many different kinds I had in my collections. So I whittled it down to two...bees and butterflies. This made it only marginally better, but better nonetheless.
Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants. They are known for their roles in pollination and, for producing honey. There are over 20,000 known species of bees in seven recognized biological families. But don't worry, you won't have to suffer through 20,000 images. Some species, including honey bees, bumblebees, and stingless bees, live socially in colonies while more than 90% of the species are solitary.
Bees are found on every continent except Antarctica, and in every habitat on the planet that contains insect-pollinated flowering plants.
Bees are not an easy thing to shoot. They seem to take off just as I bring the camera up to my eye and try to focus in. It takes patience and fortitude. Clouds also help.The image on the upper left was shot in full sun while the one on the right had diffused lighting and to me is a much more pleasant image, not so harsh. AND it's carrying pollen on its little back legs!
In May of 2022 my wife and I took a roadtrip that lasted 50 days. On the way back home we stopped by the family farm in Nebraska and had the fun experience of helping to gather honey from the beehives. Start to finish, we took home 12 pounds of honey! The image to the lower right is the queen's box. A queen bee is typically an adult, mated female that lives in a colony or hive of honey bees. With fully developed reproductive organs, the queen is usually the mother of most, if not all, of the bees in the beehive. Queens are developed from larvae selected by worker bees and specially fed in order to become sexually mature. There is normally only one adult, mated queen in a hive, in which case the bees will usually follow and fiercely protect her.
Catching bees in flight is pure luck. I take my long lens, aim and shoot on hi (rapid succession) and see what I get.
The blurred wings show movement, which I like. Here's another one to the left with loads of pollen.
Butterflies can be equally challenging to photograph. The good new is there are many botanical gardens that have Butterfly Tents in them and make for perfect lighting AND easy to locate various types of butterflies.
Butterflies are MUCH more difficult to capture in the air than bees as they do not fly in a smooth fashion. However, they tend to stay longer at a flower or food source so are easier to capture on
These two were found on a rock at our beloved Clear Creek.
The main differences between moths and butterflies are
- Moths are nocturnal, while butterflies are diurnal.
- Moths have feathery antennae, while butterflies have long and bare antennae.
- Moths have furry bodies, while butterflies have smooth bodies.
- Moths have dull colors, while butterflies have bright colors.
- Moths hold their wings in a tent-like fashion, while butterflies fold their wings vertically up.
I hope you enjoyed this installment. Thank you for your patience as I figure out how to maneuver the different design elements of this new blog space.
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Comments
Beautiful images Vicki!
Wonderful and educational! You're off to a great start with this new blog format!
Your photography is phenomenal 🩵