Gee, bees

I was sitting on our deck when I spotted a bee working its way across the yard. I grabbed the camera and started zooming in on the wee beastie...

Here are my best shots.  

Across the yard I spotted it...

Coming closer...

Oh good, it's heading for these calendulas right next to the deck. (All of these pictures will be of the same bee.)

You can easily see the corbicula (pollen basket) on each of its hind legs.  

With such close-up shots, I feel that I'm getting to know this bee really well...

Look at the condition of this bee's wings in this photo and in the next two.

You'll see that its wings are tattered. I think that must mean that this is an older bee who has been using its wings for some time.  

I read that a bee's wings beat at 230 beats per second and that a bee might fly 500 miles in it's lifetime. (measured in weeks)  Little wonder this one is showing some wear and tear. I wonder how much longer this one has... 

Notice too, in this picture and others, that at rest, this bee's left wing overlaps the right one slightly. I wonder if all bee's wings are like that, or if they vary? Are they right or left winged?  

I was reading that some beekeepers think that bees might enjoy music. One guy asked in fact, "What kind of music do your bees enjoy?" That got me thinking, and thinking...

I imagine that my bee, the one I photographed today, is quite musical. And I think that bees especially love disco. We already know bees love to dance. In fact, I wouldn't bee surprised if my bee had written a bee song, set to an old, but very popular disco tune.  And beeing such social creatures, they would love karaoke too.  

Here is a link to the music it used. I think that it especially liked the frequencies of the singers' voices in this piece. 

Start it and then click right back to this page. The words to the bee's version of this song are below. See if you can keep up.    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2N5UZKPvYQE

"Sustainin' the hive."  by the Gee, bees.  

[verse 1]

Well, you can tell by the way I use my wings, I'm a worker bee. No time for talk 

Buzzin' away from my hive warm, I been workin' hard since I was born. 

But it's alright, it's okay. You could say flyin' makes my day. 

You could try to understand, just how fast I really am.  

[Chorus]

Whether you're a worker or whether you're some other,

You're sustainin' the hive, sustainin' the hive.

Feel my wings a breakin' and pollen baskets shakin,' 

I'm sustainin' the hive, sustainin' the hive.  

Ah ha, ha, ha, sustainin' the hive, sustainin' the hive. 

Ah ha, ha, ha, sustainin' the hi-i-i-ive.  

[Verse 2] 

Well now, I fly low and I fly high, in any kind of weather I really try,

Got the wings from Heaven upon my back, and this insect has got no lack,

You know it's alright, it's okay, I'll live to see another day.

You could try to understand, just how fast I really am...

[Chorus]

Whether you're a worker or whether you're some other,

You're sustainin' the hive, sustainin' the hive.

Feel my wings a breakin' and pollen baskets shakin,' 

I'm sustainin' the hive, sustainin' the hive.  

Ah ha, ha, ha, sustainin' the hive, sustainin' the hive. 

Ah ha, ha, ha, sustainin' the hi-i-i-ive.  

[Bridge]

I'm over loaded, Somebody help me.

Somebody help me, yeah. 

My wings are tattered, somebody help me, yeah. 

Sustainin' the hiiive.

[back to verse 1]  

-djf