“Do not mess with my hive.”

I had to stay home again today so I just put together a collage of some of my attempts at photos of bees.

Two photos were taken on a Fujifilm camera and three were taken on iPhones.

Yes. The top left photo is an enormous “clump” of bees! I’ve read that they act like this when they haven’t yet built or they have lost their hive and they’re in the process of building another one. The “clump” apparently is 100% all bees clinging on to one another.

[Harry J Benson]

Excellent story collage

[Swillin' Billy Flynn]

Fabulous details :)

[Peter Dulis]

lovely capture

[Dorothy]

Amazing collage! I realise how important bees are to us, but glad I’ve never Seen them swarming like that.
Beautiful

[mittens (Marilyn)]

Excellent captures.

[Skip Tribby - ​🖖]

I have heard that if the queen is on the move the workers will do this to protect her. If I was a bee I don't know if I would want that kind of protection. You would think it would suffocate her. Great collage all the same!

[Agnes]

Beautiful collage

[John Falconer]

@agnesvanderlindeicloudcom @skipt07 @mittens @illinilass @pdulis @swillinbillyflynn @hjbenson
Thanks for the much appreciated comments.
The “clump” of bees was on a golf course. You wouldn’t want hit them with your golf ball!!!

[Desi]

Absolutely incredible. Some lovely photos here

[Beryl Lloyd]

A wonderful collage of the busy bee

[Joan Robillard]

Beautiful

[Bill Davidson]

Lovely shots in your collage.

[Shutterbug]

Each of these images is a terrific, detailed and sharp image. I really like them assembled into a collage also.

[Bucktree]

Great collage and amazing photos.

[Fisher Family]

Aome lovely shots in this collage!

Ian

[Casablanca]

Ooh super selection but WOW that hive!

[Susan Wakely]

Such a great collage.

[carol white]

A super collage of bees. Fav 🐝🐝🐝

[Beverley]

Terrific selection, collage give such a great story.
Bees are soooo important, part of the biodiversity on which we all depend for our survival. Love this

[Mags]

A beautiful collage!

[KoalaGardens🐨]

nice - and so glad you are home again!

[Cathy]

Amazing! Our neighbors had a swarm (what we call it in Appalachia… Southern) … a beekeeper came and rescued them!

[Carole Sandford]

A collection of great images!

[Linda Godwin]

Fantastic collection

[Cordiander]

Stunning! Funny story about the clump of bees :)

[haskar]

Great details and lovely collage.

[Babs]

I can't wait to see a scene like this again. We haven't had bees here since they were all destroyed during the varroa mite infestation. I did see one solitary bee yesterday but that was it. So sad.

[Olwynne]

Great collage and some super close ups

[Oli Lindenskov]

Lovely collage😊

[Phil Howcroft]

great collage John

[John Falconer]

@calm
Thanks. “Swarm” was the word I was looking for! I couldn’t remember it so I used “clump”.

[John Falconer]

@seacreature @beryl @joansmor @shutterbug49 @dkellogg @fishers @casablanca @casablanca @wakelys @carolmw @beverley365 @marlboromaam @koalagardens @calm @carole_sandford @rontu @cordulaamann @haskar @onewing @ollyfran @ollyfran @mubbur @phil_howcroft
Thanks for the much appreciated comments. Bees are important for the future of agriculture etc. It’s always lovely to see them.

[Junan Heath]

Fabulous collage!

[bkb in the city]

What a great collage

[Corinne C]

Amazing photos and collage!

[Islandgirl]

Very nice collage!

[Yao RL]

wow, honey somewhere around?

[LManning (Laura)]

Terrific collection!

[Kathy]

Good captures of bees. That's quite a hive in the top right.

[Valerie Chesney]

Wow! A really great collection!

[John]

Such excellent closeups of these invaluable little creatures!

[Rick]

Great shots in this collage.

[eDorre]

Wonderful! Insta-fav

[Jessica Eby]

These are all wonderful shots, and they look great together!

[Issi Bannerman]

These are all great!

[Lynda Parker]

Yes. The clump of bees is 100% bees. My Dad used to be a beekeeper, and he collected bees like this putting them into a hive box so they had somewhere to be... so long the Queen is somewhere in that clump, the rest of the hive will follow.

[John Falconer]

@paintdipper @bkbinthecity @corinnec @radiogirl @yaorenliu @ljmanning @randystreat @happysnaps @congaree @rickster549 @edorreandresen @princessicajessica @jamibann
Thanks for the much appreciated comments. Love it!

[John Falconer]

@mozette
Thanks Lynda. I didn’t know the queen bee bit but makes sense. I didn’t try to find out.

[Kathy A]

Such a wonderful collage

[Steve Chappell]

Fantastic collage

[Lynda Parker]

@johnfalconer she'd be in the centre of the hive. Plus, there can only be one queen per hive. If two show up, they fight it out. And if it can't be resolved, one leaves and takes some of the hive with her, thus this swarming happens.

[John Falconer]

@mozette
Thanks yet again. Great stuff!!!

[Pat]

What a fabulous collage! I particularly like the bottom right picture, so crisp and colourful.

[John Falconer]

@pattyblue
Thanks. That one was just taken with my iPhone at the bus stop!!!

[Joanne Diochon]

I'm not usually very frightened of bees but seeing a mass like that in the upper right, would freak me out.

[John Falconer]

@gardencat
Thanks Joanne. As I mentioned it was on the golf course and we kept moving.

[Ann H. LeFevre]

That is one amazing swarm! We had that happen in our backyard many years ago- it was pretty scary seeing all those bees clustered together and the buzz was loud!! Great collage!

[Paula Fontanini]

EXCELLENT collage John! Each and every individual image is superb!

[Boxplayer]

Incredible images especially that swarm

[John Falconer]

@boxplayer @bluemoon @olivetreeann
Again thank you all very much. Ann is very right. The buzzing noise is very loud indeed.

[Vesna]

Great collage.

[John Falconer]

@vesna0210
Thanks heaps for commenting. I enjoyed selecting the final photos.