A Green BeeNovember 16, 2008
 


  Earlier in the past week, during an otherwise dull hawk watch on Jo Hayes, a stranger came over and we had an interesting conversation. He was a beekeeper, and I learned, among other things, that there are 350 species of native bees in Pennsylvania. Imagine trying to tell apart 350 different types of bees!

That reminded me of a particularly unusual bee I encountered back in June: a green bee (on a thistle flower).
 

green bee
 
  I'm accustomed to various types of bees, and their being different shades of browns and yellows. But green?
 
green bee
 
  I'm tempted to say that a green bee would be a straightforward identification, but no doubt given the variety of insect colors, I wouldn't be surprised if there were a wide variety of green bees, not to mention other colors.

Photo note: Both photos were taken with the Pentax *1st D and the SMC-A* 200mm macro in late June, in the Toftrees game land behind Cooper's Pond, State College, Pennsylvania.



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