DEK Photography: Two Natural Enemies
A bee and a wasp. One carrying the earth's ecosystem on its shoulders, the other - trying to kill him.
You can click for a bigger image!
I took these two photos on the very same bush, where hundreds of bees and the occasional wasp, were feeding and gathering nectar. And when I say feeding, I mean wasps eating bees.
Yep - almost every minute a fight would brake out - a wasp and a bee, caught in a deadly fight, each trying to sting the other. More often the wasp would win, then carry the body of the bee back to its hive, where the larva would feed on it. In return, larva secret a sugary substance, which the wasps feed on.
You can click for a bigger image!
The wasp queen stops laying new larva in Autumn, so wasps are left with nothing to eat - you will then see them on your food or more commonly - on your face, trying to eat you alive. Or at least sting you, for not tasting good enough.
It's always a good idea to build a wasp trap - it also works for flies. Cut a bottle's top, reverse it in its base and then fill it with some beer and some sugar (or leftover jam). Be sure not to use honey, as you will also attract bees. This is quite effective, as it will also catch the scout wasp - the same one, which brings an army of his buddies back to your food, if you just shoo him off.
Wasp trap image property of its respective owner
Be sure to follow the #dek-photography tag for more of my work!
Nice clear shots!
Thanks! I'm eyeing the Nikkor 105mm micro, because I enjoy macro (micro should be the right term, right?) photography, but in the mean time the 18-55mm kit lens seems rather capable too.
I've also discovered that the 50mm 1.8G prime also produces some stunning micro images, but it's very hard to handle (high hit and miss rate - it's not intended for this work). I'll make sure to post an image of a bee in mid flight, which I captured recently - it's quite dreamy because of the smooth bokeh.
well, I use 18-55mm kit too.
here some macro shoots with it https://steemit.com/photography/@boddhisattva/bee-macro-pictures-my-own-photo-makrofotografii-pchel-moi
Beautiful and sharp! Excellent work - be sure to keep it up :)
Thanks for the article. The bee plays a critical role in nature, and I think the role is larger than what we believe. Nature is a tightly knitted system which depends on the different elements in it. I have just done an article on Charles Darwin the father of modern day biology and the one who first realised the interwovenness of the system call nature.
An excellent article, I spotted it earlier but upvoted it now! And thanks for the nice comment :)