1. Blue banded bee
2. blue banded bee
probably eying the naked tomato flower, ready for a dive.
probably eying the naked tomato flower, ready for a dive.
3. Blue banded bee
4. Blue banded bee
plunging horizontally
plunging horizontally
5. Blue banded bee
6. Blue banded bee
7. Blue banded bee
8. Blue banded bee
showing its very long tongue ready to dip into nectar
showing its very long tongue ready to dip into nectar
This blue banded bee is so special. It darts quickly all over the place, with a fixed mission to suck as much nectar as possible. As it darts, it rest and stays stationary for a second extra, before going into a nectar dip. Just look at the length of its tongue in the last photo.., almost the length of its own body. The normal bees do not show such peculiarity.
The blue banded bee comes around solo, and it will always do so, and will always look for the blooms of tomato.
~bangchik
Putrajaya Malaysia.
Putrajaya Malaysia.
Dear Bangchik, Never having seen a blue banded bee, this posting was absolutely fascinating. You must have had a great deal of patience to be able to capture these images, especially the one in which the bee is ready with its tongue to drink the nectar from the tomato plant. Lovely.
ReplyDeleteVery nice post, lovely picture of that very longtongued bluebanded bee...
ReplyDeleteHow did you managed to take those photos??
ReplyDeleteI've never seen anything like that. How interesting!
ReplyDeleteFascinating looking bee, thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteInteresting little critter and I love the way you took us on his journey :) I don't blame him, I'd be on those tomatoes too
ReplyDeleteWhat a amazing little creature. I love that bright blue band.
ReplyDeleteJen
What a beautiful bee. The tongue is amazing.
ReplyDeleteWe were having such high pollen counts in NC due to a wet winter followed by a very warm week, which brought everything out at once. Most of the yellow pollen is from Loblolly Pines.
Those are amazing photos! I've been chasing my bees around with my camera, but they are too busy to pose for me.
ReplyDeleteLovely photos! I tried so hard to catch a shot of bees in my garden last year, but was never quick enough. ;-) Maybe I'll have better luck this year.
ReplyDeleteCute bee! And I am sure he is enjoying the job of pollinating your tomatoes. You took some amazing photos!
ReplyDeleteAah Bangchik, the pictures have to go to National Geographic. You are really good with the camera. I could not even catch a good picture of the monitor lizard and you are quicker than the bee.
ReplyDeleteThese photos are wonderful! It's like watching the bee live :-D And the tongue! Gosh that's long and you managed to take a shot... cool!
ReplyDeleteGreat photos. The picture showing it's tongue is fascinating.
ReplyDeleteWe have blue banded bees too Bangchik! These are superb photos, I really think the second one, where he is comtemplating the flower and showing off his blue bands is wonderful!
ReplyDeletewowwwwwwwwww!!! how did you do that!!! hehehhehe... awesome photo....
ReplyDeleteIt is a very pretty insect and a lovely name to say in English - with all those Bs
ReplyDeleteWhat amazing shots! I don't know if we have blue banded bees here, I'll have to look them up.
ReplyDeleteBanchik- I have never seen a blue banded bee, what great photos you have of it.
ReplyDeleteHow in the world do you get such wonderful pictures? And a blue banded bee. I wouldn't have believed it until I saw it! Wonderful stuff.
ReplyDeleteCute B3 with such long tongue ~ reminds me of the black & white ghost in Chinese belief. Wonder if I would have a B3 visiting my tomatoes plant ~ I just sowed some seeds on Sat. Nice photos too, Bang Chik!!
ReplyDeleteI'm fascinated with native bees this one is a beauty.
ReplyDeleteThat blue-banded bee is so cute!
ReplyDeleteFriends and bloggers. Thanks for the visits and comments.
ReplyDelete~ photographs.
It's the same Nikon for these photographs. And it's the same photographer, Bangchik. Bees, butterflies and other insects are not the easiest subject to deal with, because they don't stay still for too long. They are always moving about. I just followed the blue banded bee through the lens and clicked at will as many as I can... then I choose the better ones. That's the beauty with digital camera, as compared to the old days when we use films. Encounter with blue banded bee was pure chance, and to freeze their movements in photographs is pure luck.
Kakdah was around at that moment looking at her flowers as I rushed for the camera and busy clicking. She just looked at me without a word. When it was over, she came close and asked "dapat ambil?" in our dialect. In English that would mean "manage to get?, or manage to click?, or manage to snap? or manage to capture?...."
~ Amegilla cingulata
Amegilla cingulata is the other name of blue banded bees. The Blue Banded Bee builds a solitary nest, but often close to one another. It prefers soft sandstone to burrow in, and areas of this type of rock can become riddled with bee tunnels.
Blue Banded Bees also tend to nest in burrows, dried up river banks, old clay homes and in mortar between bricks. Cells at the end of tunnels contain an egg with a pollen/nectar mixture for emerging larvae.
A researcher in Australia has done research on the potential of blue banded bees as pollinator for tomatoes. http://www.aussiebee.com.au/abol-002.html
~BANGCHIK
PUTRAJAYA MALAYSIA
Ha!!!!! I love it! These are the best and refreshing photos as well!
ReplyDelete