Eric Gofreed
Well-Known Member
My contribution this week's Winged Wednesday concerns the birds and the bees. Obviously, no sex education photographs, just photos of hummers interacting with honey bees.
"The Hummer and The Brose." Looks like a misspelling because the is no "B" in rose. Well, there is in this one.
The Rufous hummingbird is taking a close look but the bee wasn't happy about that and went after the him as you'll see in the next image showing 9 of 17 photographs.
This sequence of photos continues the confrontation seen in the first photo. The Rufous Hummingbird got too close and the honey bee showed his ire by chasing him. The distance traveled in the attack was about 2 feet and the chase lasted 1.7 seconds. The first photos shows a stand off followed by the aggression of the bee and the hummer backing away. I have seen many chases like this and the bee never stings. Yellowjackets on the other hand are bastards and the hummers know it; they flee the area at high speeds to avoid being stung.
This was a different hummer on a different day. This rufous hummingbird is curious of the bee and the bee could care less.
A female Anna's hummingbird sips nectar from the Texas Salvia, alias Texas Ranger. I must admit, I cleared a landing spot next to flowers that I spiked with sugar water. The photobombing bee was an unexpected surprise.
"The Hummer and The Brose." Looks like a misspelling because the is no "B" in rose. Well, there is in this one.
The Rufous hummingbird is taking a close look but the bee wasn't happy about that and went after the him as you'll see in the next image showing 9 of 17 photographs.
This sequence of photos continues the confrontation seen in the first photo. The Rufous Hummingbird got too close and the honey bee showed his ire by chasing him. The distance traveled in the attack was about 2 feet and the chase lasted 1.7 seconds. The first photos shows a stand off followed by the aggression of the bee and the hummer backing away. I have seen many chases like this and the bee never stings. Yellowjackets on the other hand are bastards and the hummers know it; they flee the area at high speeds to avoid being stung.
This was a different hummer on a different day. This rufous hummingbird is curious of the bee and the bee could care less.
A female Anna's hummingbird sips nectar from the Texas Salvia, alias Texas Ranger. I must admit, I cleared a landing spot next to flowers that I spiked with sugar water. The photobombing bee was an unexpected surprise.
