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Bug Blog
How Fast Can a Honey Bee Fly?
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. But...
A honey bee can beat its wings 230 times every second. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Honey bee spinning like a top. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Passion for Passion Flowers
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've been around passion flower vines, you know they attract...
Honey bees foraging on a passion flower blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
So many bees, so little time. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
From the top, the passion flower blossom looks like an intricate merry-go-round. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bumble Bees at Bodega
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...
Bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenski, on woolly sunflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up of bumble bee, vosnesenski. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This yellow-faced bumble bee is packing red pollen. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Purple Coneflower Never Looked So Good
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...
Western tiger swallowtail on a purple coneflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Western tiger swallowtail spreads its wings. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Lying in Wait
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. Sometimes they're camouflaged, matching the color of a blossom, like a yellow crab spider...
Crab spider on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Crab spider on a gold coin. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Crab spider on sedum. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
