Giant bee

[valis2]

So I have a minor obsession with bumblebees (they're so snuggly!), and our sunflowers attract several of them.

Two days ago I was watering them, and I noticed a rather freakishly large bumblebee (maybe one of the wood borers?). I tried taking pics, but they didn't come out well because of the angle of the sun.

Yesterday, though, I was able to take a few. I took a pic of a regular bumblebee so you could see that the freakishly large bumblebee was at least twice her size, but I couldn't get both in the shot, so it wasn't really helpful.

I don't think these adequately represent how large this bee is. First, you must remember that these sunflowers are NOT the normal, giant sunflowers. They're the small kind.



I attempted to use my finger for scale, but unfortunately, the bee moved, and is foreshortened, so you're still not getting an idea of how large this thing is.

Comments

[cactus-wren.livejournal.com]

Eek. Now I feel all creepy-crawly at 7:30 in the morning. Your sunflowers are really pretty, though! (and I will admit the fuzzy bumblebees are cuter than the sleek, angry ones we get more of around here!)

I am tired of bees this year. We're less than two weeks into school and I've already sent a half dozen kids in from the playground at recess with bee stings, and when I'm trying to line the little darlings up to go in, there's always some that are running out of line, dancing about and screaming 'BEE! BEE!'. Most frustrating. Especially when I'm trying to remain calm, cool, and collected about it, you know, 'Hey, look, I'm just standing here calmly and they're not bothering me! You try this, too, okay?' - when what I really want to do is run around screaming, too. I'm probably the only 41 year old who has never been stung by a bee. And now I'm kind of afraid (irrationally) that when I finally do get stung, I'll be allergic or something.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

The sunflowers...they're just not what I had hoped for, and it turns out that they're some weird variety and they're from the birdseed! So there will be no sunflower seeds for us. They're very small flowers, and they have very long stalks, and they look like bizarre alien sunflowers and I'm not much into them. Next year, I'll transplant them into the ditch if I find them. *nodnod*

And oh yes, I can well imagine the bee drama that goes on with children, having done a fair portion of it myself at that age, lol.