There are different kinds of achievement in this shot. The first is that I managed to capture it at all, teetering in a flower bed with my Kodak Easyshare. The sun was full on too so I could not see the camera screen. But by far the biggest achievement is the presence of three bumble bees all at once.
All over the world bee numbers have been declining. Swarms in the US have been especially hit. Over the last few decades many factors have played a part, including habitat erosion, lack of quality forage and disease. But in 2006 honey bee keepers began to report dramatic losses. It involved the deaths of whole hives and has been dubbed colony collapse disorder.
Environmentalists believe the cause to be the neonicotinoids in the new generation of pesticides. They want them banned until unbiased research proves otherwise. It is a sobering thought that without bees to pollinate fruit and vegetables, the US would be left with only three staples that do not require insect pollination: wheat, rice and corn.
To find out more, please visit Dear Kitty. Some Blog. She has posted a good video that covers this topic. In the meantime, everyone needs to think about what they can do to encourage bees, including growing some bee-friendly plants. We also need to be prepared to pay a little more for organic produce, or to do what we can to grow our own food, WITHOUT chemicals.
This would be a real achievement – not only good for bees, but for us, the soil, and other wildlife besides.
copyright 2014 Tish Farrell
Tish Farrell 
Such a beautiful image… so well captured 🙂
To get this image, this sharp, without the display on, is certainly an achievement, Tish 🙂
Thank you, Sreejith. It was a very lucky shot 🙂
A wonderful image indeed. I just had a beautiful bumble bee in my flat! Thank you:)
Must be all the beautiful vegetation and bright colours you create 🙂
great post Tish. I agree with everything you have said.
Great capture Tish
Thank you, kind sir. You have no idea how pleased I was to find it in my camera 🙂
This is such a stunning capture, Tish! The clarity is incredible and the colors are so rich.
Sorry about missing your posts, I haven’t received you post notices from my Reader 😕
Hello, Amy. Nice to see you. Maybe I’ve fallen off your reader list. It can happen. Thanks for the nice comments 🙂
wow, yes, three big cheers! that color is stunning!
A beautiful photo! Lots of achievement right there! And a very important message. Nowadays I try to buy everything I can organic.
Sheesh! No big deal. They’re trained Bees, like Wilfred over at my spot, right? 😉
Drat and double drat, Ark. You’ve given the game away. Anyway, I think Wilfred is another critter you just made up. 🙂
Post you’ll like coming your way in a ticky.
Oh, while I have your undivided ….
Why, when I click on your name on your avatar does it always show the Oloololo Escarpment post on your home page and then the latest post underneath this?
Is this how you’ve set up the page?
Just asking …
At the moment the Oloololo Escarpment post is ‘sticky’. It’s probably time I unstuck it. I tend to make the posts that are to do with my writing ‘sticky’ so that anyone from outside the system, googling me, will come to the sticky page first. I probably could think of a better way of doing this…
Ah .. and now I am completely; flummoxed. being as I am as un-I.T as one could possible be. 😉
Actually, I more or less ‘get it’.
But what about more (visible) links to your published work? Side bars and wotnot?
That stuff is on another page – you have to click on the little cipher square thingy at the top of the page. This is not ideal, but on the whole I like my uncluttered page.
Such a great capture Tish! I feel the same way about bees and we have so many of them here. Some days all I do is to walk around looking for tired bees and giving them sugarwater. I agree with the no-pesticide campaign. There are so many natural ways to treat plants and fruits. Here I refuse that anyone spray any pesticides. The ants are being kept at bay by the spiders I keep in the house and outside. The lice on the plants are being eaten by the ladybugs, and so forth… 😀 People should realise that by spraying all these harmful stuff, they are killing everything, not only the bees and without all these little critters we have no chance to survive.
Great post! 😀 ♥
Yes, I agree with all you say, Sonel. Nice to have you drop by, and thanks for the lovely comments.
Beeautiful photo Tish. We have lots of bees and wasps in Spain (huge bees) and nary a single one will pause long enough for me to silent take its photo. Is that a poppy?
Yes, of the Oriental variety. It’s good to hear you have plenty of bees in Spain, even if they won’t stop to be photographed.
I can’t count the number of times I have tired to explain to people the importance of bees and how alarming the loss of so many hives should be … and this is one of those things we cannot fix with technology or any other ways. Bees are an essential link in the food chain … And you know, we’ve lost our bats, too. Why aren’t more people frightened? I’m personally terrified.
It’s interesting how people can block things from their minds. I suppose they just think they can go to the supermarket, so why worry. I think so many people have completely lost the connection between the food they eat and how it is produced. Sad. And yes, it should be terrifying.
Thank you, Tish, for bringing attention to the bees, especially with such a beautiful flower/bee picture. We set up a bee house this year and have several hives. Since we got these bees, I’ve stopped buying commercial flowers because they are typically sprayed with the bee-killing pesticide you mentioned. For next year, I am planning a large planting of native flowers so the bees can be happy. It is so important to focus on planting flowering shrubs and plants that are native to your particular area to support beneficial insects including bees. Also, all of my shrubs and trees are native and bear fruit or nuts or some other wildlife product. Another beneficial side-effect to planting natives – after they are established, they need very little attention and basically thrive on benign neglect. They also survive droughts better than non-natives….
This sounds absolutely perfect, Annette. Well done you two creating a very special bee sanctuary.
I haven’t managed to capture one bee, let alone three on a lovely flower! 🙂 An superb achievement Tish! I agree with you that declining bee populations should be a matter of greater concern.
Yes, it’s a worrying situation. Too much tinkering with the environment, and not all of it necessary.
If they wait for definitive research and wait for legal contests to be settled, it’s will probably be too late to save the bees. The ol Better late than sorry common sense may be unheeded.
I’m afraid you’re probably right on this, Stephen.