Bees on Blackberry Petals
/For an evening, I put myself among the bee’s.
There was a camera between us yet, through the lens, it was as if we climbed the tall stems together like little mountaineers among a jungle of vines, clutching at the tips of leaves, leaping from perch to perch in search of blackberry nectar.
From flowers whose fruits will flourish in the autumn mostly thanks to little bees, whose daily routine includes intentionally growing the world’s forests and unintentionally feeding millions (probably billions) of other animals, too.
Fueled by liquid honey, an energy-dense food which never spoils. Which they make so much of, that it also feeds a huge portion of the human species; stored inside structures made of a material they also produce themselves.
As I watched them, the bees dodged brambles; and as I fixed images of them, they launched their furry bodies through many loops of thorns; engaging their wings only if they couldn’t make the jump, or were interrupted mid-flight by the unpredictable breeze.
Mostly, they climbed; clambering, jiggling, and wiggling from flower to flower in search of sweet gold, the product of water, time, and sunshine.
But there’s another reason besides the nectar, that drives these bees to hunt among the brambles: pollen, which they feed to the larvae back home - their bee babies.
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Professional-quality A4 photopaper printed with 10x8inch print of a bee launching from a pink flower, a blackberry blossom, into flight.
Gallery of bees
