Show us Pictures of your Bees

[thurrock bees]

Question for the experts; in the first photo of barratt_sab's pictures. The bee in the middle of the picture has two small dots above her eyes/on top of her head? What are they?

i believe they are eyes, these sense the fast movement a beek makes

 

[oliver90owner]

The bee in the middle of the picture has two small dots above her eyes/on top of her head? What are they?

Two of the three simple eyes. All three are visible on the bee to the far right of the pic.

Regards, RAB

 

[barratt_sab]

I've looked through my pictures for one that clearly shows all three ocelli, and cannot find one - but here's a shot that shows the third one a bit more clearly.

 

[madasafish]

Mine in June...

 

[Queens59]

Wow - Madasafish - they look enormous!!

 

[Flatters]

My bees this evening. I have never seen so many come in so heavy. No idea what pollen it is though. Any ideas?

 

[barratt_sab]

Wow - Madasafish - they look enormous!!

They look like they could eat my bees for breakfast!

 

[barratt_sab]

TK - I took these very early in the season with a newly installed nuc. I took them without a veil or gloves on. One was taken from outside the hive (obviously!) and the others were taken through a hole in the crown board.

I used a macro lens, which has a very limited depth of field (hence my blurry photos). I didn't use a flash or tripod, as I wanted to be able to run away unhindered by kit.

I had to get the end of the lens within 2 inches of the subject, which put my unprotected forehead only about 6 inches away from the bees, so I took about 15 shots in quick sucession and retreated.

I don't think I'd do the same thing at this time of year!

(They were all taken with 60mm lens designed for 35mm film, equating to a 90mm on the digital body used. They were shot at about F4 & 1/200th sec on ISO100 equivalent.)

 

[madasafish]

Queens/Barratt

Just normal carnies.. Much bigger than my next hive mongrels.. Then I had 8 frames in a TBH - now 27.. Talk about feeeding? They consumed 3 litres of 1:1 syrup in under 24 hours in the summer gap. Fortunately the balsam kept them busy. Hive must now weigh over 120lbs....

 

[johnandyrob]

My bees this evening. I have never seen so many come in so heavy. No idea what pollen it is though. Any ideas?

my bees are bringing in the same colour pollen as yours but I cant find anything in flour in the area although their must be some thing

 

[Flatters]

It is a pity there is not a site like this for the uk:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollen_source

 

[Black Comb]

Mine too.
Probably ivy.

 

[Onge]

It is a pity there is not a site like this for the uk:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollen_source

Yea we could call the Fall section Autumn

Then have more plants that actually grow here

 

[barratt_sab]

my bees are bringing in the same colour pollen as yours but I cant find anything in flour in the area although their must be some thing

I'm with PeterS - I think it might be ivy. Ours is just flowering and the bees are all over the pollen.

 

[Black Comb]

When they start to fill the box with ivy you can smell it when you walk up to the hive.

 

[darren64]

A few pictures of my bees from the last couple of years.

This picture won first prize last year in our honey show

My feisty bees but hardest workers

Finally my favourite colony

she's a very dark queen,is there a bit of robbing going on in that picture?,some of the bees are very light coloured.

 

[blackbrood]

It is a pity there is not a site like this for the uk:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollen_source

check the pollen guide out at the Bristol beekeepers association here. You have to click on the icon on the left hand side of the screen.

click here

 

[Dishmop]

My bees this evening. I have never seen so many come in so heavy.

Mine have been like that today. Best weather they have had for a few days so they musr have been catching up.

 

[Flatters]

Thanks for that pollen link. We are not far from a wood with a lot of ivy. I suppose this is good as the very good supply of HB is coming to an end, although there are still some coming in with the stripe.

 

[margob99]

My bees came to me as a swarm - I'd love to know their heritage ...