High Speed Flash Bee Photo

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!

Flight of the Honey Bee!

Today was yard work day at my house and what a beautiful day it was. The intense sun light completely wiped me out as I cut the lawn and trimmed the hedges around the house. While I was working I noticed these honey bees busily doing there part to keep my yard beautiful. Nuff respect little dudes! I know that there has been much debate regarding the effect of modern civilization on the proliferation of the honey bee. Specifically, there has been discussion about the effect of cellular communication on the honey bee with a noted decline in numbers of bees with the increase in use of cellular technology. Do your part to keep the honey bee busy - plant a flowering plant in your yard and encourage the honey bee to come around. That way we can hopefully keep them around and keep beautiful flowers in our environment.

Decay and Renewal

Empty the self completely;
Embrace perfect peace.
The world will rise and move;
Watch it return to rest.
All the flourishing things
Will return to their source.

This return is peaceful;
It is the flow of nature,
An eternal decay and renewal.
Accepting this brings enlightenment,
Ignoring this brings misery.

Who accepts nature's flow becomes all-cherishing;
Being all-cherishing he becomes impartial;
Being impartial he becomes magnanimous;
Being magnanimous he becomes natural;
Being natural he becomes one with the Way;
Being one with the Way he becomes immortal:
Though his body will decay, the Way will not.

-LaoTze-