I know that I have featured bees before but today I used a high speed flash to freeze the wings of this subject in flight. How fast do their wings move you ask - between 200 - 230 beats per second. That is fast! We apparently blink up to 5 times per second and the honey bee is doing that 40 times over with its wings! My flash was working with a shutter speed of 1/4000sec (50mm @ f/6.3) to catch this shot, which was the only usable shot out of about 30 that I took. Not only do honey bees beat their wings exceedingly fast but their flight pattern is very random making photographing them very challenging.
I like this shot because you can see the definition in the wings fully spread (click image to full view). What is my fascination with bees? None at all - there just happen to be around and are willing subjects for my camera. Actually, I have grown to appreciate them as an integral part of the circle of life. I have enjoyed three crops of plumbs this season and I am sure that the bees had something to do with that. Thanks little guys!
