Swift

Macro Insects: Bees and Butterflies

Two open-faced pink roses with a bumblebee collecting pollen in each.

This is the first part of my insect photographs from this summer. I have stalked a lot of bees and butterflies, bees being smaller and much harder to photograph. I loved seeing all the different types of bumble bees in my garden this summer. Big and small, with every colour variation you can think of. They are very hardy creatures and I still see them flying around collecting pollen, even in the rain.

A few months ago we finally decided to buy a beehive. We have been talking about it too long. I had a lot of fun assembling it. Once we found a suitable location, we attached a lure inside and waited. Spoiler alert: we did not catch a swarm of honey bees. We missed our chance as a swarm flew over our house just two weeks before we got the beehive. Now we have to wait until the end of winter to get these incredible honey making insects.

It is not like our new bee house went completely unnoticed though. There were bees coming and going for weeks, investigating this new structure. It was so interesting to watch them. From my deductions we had about 4 drones exploring at a time. As the end of August came, the beehive became a home for earwigs. I had to evict them and store the beehive away for next year. I hope they enjoyed their temporary accommodation.

The Buddleia bush has been a magnet for butterflies throughout August and into September. There were at least a dozen fluttering insects around it at any given time. I mostly noticed Red Admiral and Peacock butterflies. If you approach them slowly, you can get rather close to get a macro shot. In some of the photos you can see the wear and tear on their fragile wings.

A bumble bee fertilising a raspberry.

A Red Admiral butterfly sitting on yellow Black Eyed Susan flowers.

A bumble bee seeking shelter from the rain on a Cornflower.

A bumble bee collecting pollen from a purple Lupine flower.

A macro of a Red Admiral sitting on a Butterfly bush.

A bumble bee collecting pollen from purple chive flowers.

A Small White Butterfly sitting on purple Wallflowers in the sunlight.

A bumble bee sitting on a small, purple chive flower.

An upside-down Peacock Butterfly on a Buddleia bush sipping nectar.

A black and yellow bumble bee among purple Lupine flowers.

A honey bee collecting pollen from white clover in the lawn.

A macro of a Peacock Butterfly sipping nectar from a purple Buddleia flower cone.

Black and yellow bumble bees collecting pollen from pink Lupine flowers.

A bumble bee resting on a Cornflower flower bud.

A pair of Peacock butterflies sipping nectar from purple Buddleia flowers.

A bumble bee inside a purple Foxglove flower.

A Red Admiral sipping nectar from purple Butterfly bush flowers.

You Might Also Like

0 comments

Flickr Images