Bee Trap

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On the same afternoon when I photographed Steven doing doughnuts on the tractor while cutting the grass, I stopped to take a look at the wild flowers growing at the edge of the lawn. The black and white project is to feature 'living things' for tomorrow and I was looking for subjects. As I stood there, a bee flew in to feast on the nectar and I quickly focused to catch a photograph of it. Just then, taking both the bee and me by surprise a crab spider dropped from its hiding place and pounced on the poor thing. It seemed to bury something into the bee that surely paralysed or stunned it and then it twist it in its legs, presumably while it proceeded to suck it dry, which it apparently does. There was nothing I could do but continue to watch and photograph as by the time I knew what was happening the bee was finished. Later, when I got to see the pictures I had taken, the first one, a little out of focus from my haste, showed the bee about to land and, almost completely hidden, but just about to descend to attack, the spider. I had not been aware of it but the camera had caught it.

So here is my rather dark themed image for #beethursday +Bee Thursday​​ by +Dorothy Pugh​​

My G+ posts are all on my blog : https://www.elliekennard.ca .

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94 Responses

  1. +James Listig oh dear!
    The chances of a bee 🐝 stinging you from where we live is probably… Never going to happen. ☺
    You can be desensitised to their venom, I know because my husband Steven was a beekeeper in France and he was allergic. In order to keep on with the bees, he went first to the hospital where the desensitisation process was started, then eventually his doctor continued with the treatment of injections. He doesn't do it any more so doesn't need the treatment.

  2. +soo in lee thank you so much for so many wonderful (and thoughtful) comments on so many of my posts. I will answer them all as I can, but it is late here and I have dishes to do before bed LOL! 😀 So I will thank you first here. I am just an animal lover, like yourself. And I love to 'capture' them with my camera.
    Welcome to G+! You are doing just great in making such lovely comments.

  3. For most of us who are wishing to capture such a moment, there are so many times we come up empty. It's true, though, that you have to be watching or in the act of actively photographing/seeing, or it's just another "if only", or "I wish" day. Congratulations on being in play, and catching a sequence such as this.

  4. Crab spiders are amazing animals. I was once photographing a blue iris and discovered one hiding inside near the stamen with it's body poised in a posture that made it almost completely invisible.

  5. +Isabelle Cardinal Yes, absolutely. This is a case where stealth and speed won the fight – which was almost not a fight at all. Plus, I suspect, the poison it injected. If the bee had stung it, it would have died itself anyway, so no use in fighting, it was a goner whatever.

  6. +HQSP Animals Actually I have removed the # for macro as it was not a macro shot, just a close up shot. I am surprised it is not considered 'animals' as you don't have an insect theme, but understand if that is the policy (it doesn't say so on the copy paste page info about the theme). Thank you anyway.

  7. Very interesting and special capture there!! Whahh… when they say size does not matter, it is very impressive to see that smaller spider attacking a bigger insect and… winning the fight!! hehe… very cool!

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