Bees !

Apis Mellifera (honey bee). This lovely blue salvia plant has attracted just about every bee species around our area. Native bees love it as do honey bees like the one here. Bees are an integral part of the life cycle of flowers and my pictures try to show this. To me, plants have an exuberance equal to that of insects and other animals. When I look at nature through my lens like here, the bee is as much part of the tapestry as the plant. I appreciate macro work by other photographers who show a bee or insect close-up and in (relative) isolation, but prefer to show a wider view of nature myself.

Australian native bee, Amegilla Cingulata (Blue Banded Bee) on Salvia flower. This native bee of Australia does not live in a communal hive like the honey bee. Each female makes her own single nest in a burrow in the ground or sometimes in a wall cavity or such like, where she lays her eggs. However, groups of these bees often make their nests in close proximity to each other in a pseudo community. Individual Amegilla live just one season each before dying off in winter. In Spring the eggs hatch and the life cycle carries on once more. Salvia as a group of plants provide a long season of nourishment for native and other bees in Australia and other similar climates.

Leafcutter Bee, Megachile sp., length 12mm. This is the first sighting of this bee in my garden and I'm so excited. Excuse the low resolution picture as it was taken at night - I had gone outdoors to photograph something else when I spotted the bee. It happened so fast I didn't have time to adjust my camera but wanted to capture the bee before it flew off. This bee cuts neat circular pieces out of soft leaves, like rose leaves, to use in its nest. I've seen the holes in my roses' leaves but never the bee, until now.

This morning I went out to see if the Leafcutter bee I had spotted last night was around. There were not one but two Leafcutter bees buzzing around this blue Salvia. It is a popular plant with my bees as I counted 5 types of bees on the Salvia at the same time. Honeybee, Leafcutter Bee, Blue Banded native bee, tiny Stingless native bee and a brief visit from a Teddy Bear Bee. I am thrilled to see this Leafcutter bee, Megachile sp., which has eluded me till now. More pictures of it to follow.

Australian native bee, 5mm long, visiting flowering onion. Pollen can be seen stored on the bee's hind legs.

A honey bee hovering at the entry to an Azalea flower. What is interesting is one can see the outline of the right-side wing quite clearly at the same time as the high speed blur of the wing motion. Also this female bee has clearly just begun her pollen gathering as there is not a lot of pollen stored in the leg sac which can be seen as a yellow blob on her hind leg.

Australian native bee, Amegilla or Blue Banded Bee flying towards Salvia Uliginosa. This true blue Salvia lures insects like a magnet, including most bees.

Blue banded bee, Amegilla, a native bee of Australia collecting nectar from a Salvia flower. The bee has learnt that it is easier to get to the pollen by punching a hole through the base of the flower rather than fighting its way up the funnel of the flower. Sadly it means the flower misses out on having its pollen dispersed by the bee.

Honey Bee on gaura lindheimerii flower.

Australian Leafcutter, Megachile, bee. This bee species stacks pollen gathered from flowers on the underside of its abdomen seen here in bright yellow. Honey bees on the other hand stack pollen in sacs on their hind legs.

Australian native Nomia bees, all males, settling down to roost on an arched flower stem of Gaura plant. The females live in solitary nests or in groups of nests, while the males sleep in the open like this. They like thin blades of grass or similar strands and cluster like this on the end of the blade of grass, probably for protection against predators. This Gaura plant in my garden was covered in Nomia bees each evening, for about three weeks.

Australian native Nomia bees, settling down to sleep for the night on a flower stem of Gaura plant. These bees are all males, they congregate like this at the end of the day, to sleep in a group. They like thin blades of grass or similar strands and cluster like this on the end of the blade of grass, probably for protection against predators. The females live in solitary nests or in groups of nests, while the males sleep in the open. The picture was taken in my garden where I observe them settling down each evening at sundown. If they like a roosting site they will come back each afternoon for several weeks.