Busy Bees

I rode over the hill to have lunch with a friend. It being flower season, I took my camera with its macro lens. It was lovely and windy.

Bees were very busy in this poppy bush. In this image, a bee is on final approach, blurry because it's out of the lens' depth of field. You can still see the orange blob of its pollen baskets on its back legs.



In this image, the bee is foraging for nectar and also picking up more pollen. The hairs on the back legs are designed for this purpose. The bees use the pollen to make food, but the plant also benefits as the pollen is moved around, ensuring genetic diversity.