From Giliell, breathtaking photos. Click for full size, you don’t want to miss the detail.
© Giliell, all rights reserved.
Affinity
Art, Fun, & Nonsense.
From Giliell, breathtaking photos. Click for full size, you don’t want to miss the detail.
© Giliell, all rights reserved.
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Is that a black bee???
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I have no idea what they are. They are big, about as big as my thumb, not the best flyers and can frequently be found in my garden. The first pic you see is actually the last one after I picked it up and put it into the brambles so nobody would step on it
They look like giant black bumble bees, I’ve never seen any that colour before! I love the violet-blue shimmer on the wings, too. I thought they were some kind of fly at first, but something about the shape of the insect makes me lean more towards hymenoptera rather than diptera.
The bees remind me very much of the carpenter bees we get around our house in summer -- although those are not entirely black, having a bit of yellow on the abdomen. They are a solitary species, raising their young in wooden planks in our deck, but they also visit flowers for nectar, like other bees.
Our sign that summer is truly at an end was the discovery, yesterday, of a White-crowned Sparrow (dead, unfortunately) on the street in front of our house. They are long-distance migrants, breeding in the far north, so are only seen on passage in the spring and fall.
“the”
For us, end of summer was marked by the annual Great Fall of Walnut. Don’t stand under the tree on that day, they all decide to come down at once.
Except for the stragglers, which straggle down over the next week or so, but it’s been a half-bucket per day for a while now; it’s got to stop soon!
Also, the bee is probably the violet carpenter bee, common enough in Europe. Though it certainly looks more black to me.
It is carpenter bee. -click-
Beautiful pictures. I have never seen these bees before. I live way too much north and high, they do not live around here.
The more you know…
Seems like carpenter bees are actually an endangered species in Germany. Good to know. Next time I’ll try to nudge them towards the wild bee hotel I put up.
Giliell, I enjoy your insect photos so much. That bee is beautiful. I love the third picture, gives the impression that it’s looking into my eyes.
Wild bee hotel? That’s a great idea!
That second picture is extremely good. You can count the hairs on its head and it looks soo cute and cudly. “Biene Maja” is no competion :).
stellatree
Thank you. I’m quite fascinated by them as well. Sometimes I think it’s a bit sorry I needed to get a camera between them and me to really see them, but then, I just love taking their pictures.
I’ll have to find something to keep me occupied during winter…
The bee is stylish. Are the wings actually blue or is it just the light?
The mouth area/face of the butterfly is a bit *ahem* to my human eyes.
Giliell @ 8
Wildbienengasthaus?
Ice Swimmer
Insektenhotel
Wildbienenhotel would also work, but Gasthaus doesn’t because you usually don’t sleep in a Gasthaus and the little thingies don’t provide food, just shelter.