Bees on the wild chives

Feeding bumblebee

This White-tailed Bumblebee was spotted by my youngest son on our lawn; it was lethargic and reluctant to take to the air. My guess was that it was low on fuel – there are still relatively few plants in flower in the garden – so I picked it up and placed it on some bluebells. It seemed to work; the bee drank for some 15 minutes before flying off. And, as can be seen from the images, it paid for the opportunity to fill up by getting absolutely covered in pollen grains.

Canon 1Ds Mk II, Canon 100m prime macro lens, 1/250th sec, f/5.6, ISO 400

Canon 1Ds Mk II, Canon 100m prime macro lens, 1/250th sec, f/5.6, ISO 400

White-tailed Bumble Bee (Bombus lucorum)

It was such a glorious day here in Norfolk that I wanted to post an image that just oozed the optimism and vibrant colours of summer. The effect – enhanced a little in Photoshop – was achieved by a super-fast shutter speed combined with a large aperture setting. The result is all the focus on the gorgeous White-tail, with the huge flower it's feeding on blurred nicely into the background. Hope you like it…

Canon 1 Ds MkII, Canon 100-400mm IS USM lens, 1/2,700th sec, f/5.6, 400mm at ISO 400