Bumblebee and Carpenter Bee Photography by Kozmic Dreams

My Digital Photography of

Bumblebees and Carpenter Bees

Click on any photo to see a larger view!

Bumblebees and carpenter bees are one of my favorite insects to photograph. Many people do not realize the difference between carpenter bees and bumblebees. It is easy to tell if you just look at their abdomens---the carpenter bee has a naked black abdomen and the bumblebee has strips of yellow fuzz. However, they are both especially difficult to photograph because they move from flower to flower so quickly. By the time I focus the lens and frame the image, the bee has moved on to the next flower. My favorites are the bees captured in mid-air.

Bumblebees (2003)

Carpenter bee (2008)

Bumblebees

Wetzel State Park, June 3, 2018

Bumblebee in my backyard on August 12, 2016

The first bumblebee I've seen in my yard. I just happened to be looking out the doorwall when it landed on a leaf of my ash tree. The first two are non-macro. Since it was still resting there after those photos, I went back in and assembled the macro equipment and took the others.

Bumblebees at Point Mouillee on July 26, 2014

I was so excited---I saw 3 bumblebees today!!! I haven't seen a bumblebee in 7 years. I thought they had become extinct in MI.

Bumblebee inside columbine flower 5-26-07

Carpenter Bees

Raymond Goodrich Preserve, September 8, 2018

Mating.

My backyard, August 15, 2013

Henry Ford Estate on July 14, 2009

August 8, 2008

This poor bee is almost dead in these photos. Darwin had just gone outside and didn't make it to the grass to urinate. Instead, he left a puddle on the driveway that this bee must have thought was water. I took it out and tried to revive it with regular water, but it was too late to be saved. I figured I couldn't let it die for nothing, so I took some photographs of it.