Bug Squad

How fast can a honey bee fly? We captured these photos today of a honey bee nectaring on catmint (genus Nepeta). The bee was moving fast. To blur the wings, we set the shutter speed at 1/640 of a second with an f-stop of 13 and IS0 of 800.

Honey bees are passionate about passion flowers (Passiflora). The intricate tropical flower is their private merry-go-round, their favorite hide 'n seek place, their gathering spot.

If you're on your way to Bodega Bay in Sonoma County, stop at Bodega Head and see all the yellow-faced bumble bees on a yellow coastal plant, Eriophyllum, commonly known as the woolly sunflower. The bumble bees, Bombus vosnesenskii, are back and they particularly like the Eriophyllum.

You never know what you'll see on a purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea). Honey bees. Check. Sweat bees. Check. Hummingbirds. Check. But sometimes these rough-and-tumble blossoms are graced with a Western tiger swallowtail butterfly (Papilio rutulus).

They're ambush predators. Here you are, a bee, touching down on a flower and little do you know there's a patient and persistent crab spider lying in wait.