On hot days, it's fun to watch the honeybees collect water from the dewy grass. If you watch closely, you see them sip up droplet after droplet of dew—it's amazing to see how much they can carry.
This clever little honeybee comes repeatedly throughout the day to gather water from the Styrofoam self-watering seedling tray I keep on the deck. I guess she likes a slightly higher-tech setting for all this water-gathering business.
Speaking of tech, the bees use the water to cool the hive by fanning it with their wings. That's pretty much how an air-conditioner works. H. Sapiens aside, I can't think of any other animal beside the honeybee that has figured out how to air-condition its living quarters—sans electricity, no less. Rock on, smart little bee.
8.09.2007
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2 comments:
My partner wants to know what type of photographic equipment you use to get such clear, and beautiful photos. She is a photographer and is very impressed with your work!
Funny you should ask, because everyone seems to want to know this. I am using among the cheapest, smallest, least fancy digital cameras known to man: the Canon Elph Powershot SD 600: set on macro. Works like a charm, and I don't have to flip out everytime I get propolis on the camera.
Interestingly, one of the reviewers on Amazon says this about the camera:
"If it needs a further recommendation, my botanist son-in-law, who owns an SD500, is about to order a supply of the smaller and lighter 600's to put in the hands of his students in the field."
I too use it for field records of flowers and other "findings" on my daily walks. My partner just got the newer model and it's even sleeker and prettier, but haven't tested the macro yet.
Please thank your partner for her kind interest. I'm a pure-bred amateur when it comes to photography, but it's something I have always loved and I really enjoy meshing text with images.
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