Bumblebee and Carpenter Bee Photography by Kozmic Dreams

My Digital Photography of

Bumblebees and Carpenter Bees

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Bumblebees and carpenter bees are one of my favorite insects to photograph. Most people (including me up until recently) do not realize the difference between carpenter bees and bumblebees. It is easy to tell if you just look at their abdomens---the carpenter bee has a naked black abdomen and the bumblebee has strips of yellow fuzz. However, they are both especially difficult to photograph because they move from flower to flower so quickly. By the time I focus the lens and frame the image, the bee has moved on to the next flower. My favorites are the bees captured in mid-air.

Bumblebees

Carpenter bee

Carpenter Bees at the Henry Ford Estate on July 14, 2009

Carpenter Bee on 9-8-08

This poor bee is almost dead in these photos. Darwin had just gone outside and didn't make it to the grass to urinate. Instead, he left a puddle on the driveway that this bee must have thought was water. I took it out and tried to revive it with regular water, but it was too late to be saved. I figured I couldn't let it die for nothing, so I took some photographs of it.