A Bee’s Eye View

If you were a bee, what would you see? Thanks to the wonders of macro photography and scientific research, it’s easier than ever to imagine what a bee sees. Here’s a fascinating peek at a pollinator’s world filled with stigmas, stamens, pollen and nectar. We often forget flowers are sex organs after all, decked out with ingenious mechanisms to encourage visitation and ultimately pollination.

The photos above show the “cavernous” centers of two daylilies and an echinacea cone. Imagine being a bee or other pollinator at the edge of a daylily bloom — it must be like peering into a volcano!

Fleeting Visitors Up Close

An excellent time to observe the more elusive visitors to a garden is early morning. It’s mid-July, and I’m up well before 7:00 this morning. A humid 75-degree haze fogs the windows and runs in rivulets down the panes. Our street is quiet. Only the regular runners and the occasional commuter are out and about.

I drain the last of my coffee and fit the Nikon D-800 with a macro lens. Stepping outside, the clear notes of our resident song sparrow pierce the air. I step into the front garden populated with dwarf conifers, barberry, roses, and lush fountains of maiden grass dripping with dew. I don’t have long to wait for the action to begin.