“Ah spring, a time of plenty, for those who know what to look for. For many, it represent a first meal after long hibernation. As for me, I feast on the simple beauty of fresh wildflowers and warming days.” – Ed Lehming

As a follow-up to yesterday’s post, here’s and image of a hungry honey-bee enjoying the nectar of freshly blooming Hepatica flowers. The bee was not something I had anticipated and became a hand-held bonus shot. It moved around afar too much to allow me to set up a tripod and get a better picture.

Shooting this kind of image hand-held presents a bit of a challenge; even at f/20 the depth of field this close up is very narrow and the bee is on the move, in and out of that focal plane, so I shot multiple images, hoping to catch the bee in focus in at least one of those images. The resulting image is the result of some level of luck and experience.

I really should not have been surprised by the honey bee since I have seen other insects like butterflies and flies flying around in search of a meal, though with the spring flowers just starting to bloom, those meals are still a bit scarce.

It seems that everything is a bit ahead of schedule this year and the week ahead promises to be a mild one, which will bring forth a profusion of new growth and with it, more insects, including the less desirable biting kind. For now, I will simply enjoy what is available and keep an eye out for fresh growth on the seemingly barren forest floor.

Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1/200 sec, f/20, ISO 800