On June 19th, I had the pleasure to photograph a couple of honeybees at Mississippi River Park in Rice, MN. I started my hike not knowing what I was going to see. I had the macro lens on my camera body and went on my way.
I started out photographing different flowers that I saw along the river, but the wind was not my friend. So when I got frustrated, I moved on. I soon came across a flower that was yellow in the middle with white pedals. As I sat down to take my images, a bee flew on and started pollinating. I had to do some investigating to figure out it was a honeybee.
I think I got about two images before it flew away and with that, I sat and waited. I waited about fifteen minutes and got a few more images. They’re fast little things. Once I knew she wasn’t going to return, I moved on. Low and behold, I found another flower, which happened to be the same kind as before, with another bee!
She didn’t hang around long either and I got less than ten images, but I will say, it was the best experience ever! So let’s talk facts about honeybees. I got all my facts from a woman I follow on TikTok, @texasbeeworks. She is a professional beekeeper out of Austin, TX. 90% of the population in a honeybee hive are female. Those females do all the work for the hive. They collect food, build the hive and even raise the baby bees.
Male honeybees are called drones. They really don’t do anything to help around the hive. Their one and only job is to mate with the queen. Drones don’t even have stingers. When winter comes, and mating season is over, the workers force them out of the hive. This happens because food is scarce and they’re just more mouths to feed. They don’t contribute to the hive during winter, so forcing them out is a way for the hive to survive. When I found this out, I was a little sad. They’re forced out of their home and left to die, but it’s the circle of life, the workers have every bees best interest at heart.
The queen has it made however. She really doesn’t do anything either, except keep the hive alive. Her one and only job is laying eggs. She even has a group of attendant bees that follow her everywhere. They clean her, feed her and they take care of all of her needs! What a life!
