Bumble bee fight

LordV · 23rd of June 2008 (Mon)

Heard some loud buzzing when I was photographing some hoverflies, went to investigate and saw what I though was two bumble bees mating. They promptly fell straight through the low bush they were on and when I found them again it was obvious they were fighting.
The larger one seemed to be winning but the smaller one had a jaw locked onto the larger one's antenna. I'm pretty certain the smaller one had been stung by this time as it was hardly moving. After about 15 mins of this I went inside to get some strong magnifying glasses and some suitable instruments to see if I could unlock the bee from the antenna but the larger bee had flown off. The smaller bee was just still alive so I moved it to a flower pot to be able to see it but it died shortly after.

Not sure what was going on but never seen bumble bees fighting before.

Brian V.

Bill Pham · 23rd of June 2008 (Mon)

nice action shot Brian. i never seen them fighting either.

Bill

johnkermit1 · 23rd of June 2008 (Mon)

interesting shots indeed. nice find.

dazzlebea · 23rd of June 2008 (Mon)

What an interesting find, Brian! Well documented

UFC watch out for Bumble Bees!

LindaB · 23rd of June 2008 (Mon)

Wow, what great action shots. You can even see what looks like the claw digging in the eye on the last shot.

Amazing, but sad this happened. Stuart (Eucera) might be able to tell you what happened there.

Linda

Jay Lowery · 23rd of June 2008 (Mon)

must have stole some honey from him. damn honey thief's.

Mick Emmett · 23rd of June 2008 (Mon)

Excellent captures Brian, that'll teach him to keep his eyes off the girls

scotteisenphotography · 23rd of June 2008 (Mon)

very cool too see action like this that would normally be ignored blow up so large

bandit 1 · 23rd of June 2008 (Mon)

Hiya Brian,

Superb shots, fantastic details, maybe they were fighting over a nest site, I did read somewhere that this does happen.

Cheers for now
Mark

akmoose · 23rd of June 2008 (Mon)

Thats amazing! Right place at the right time. Wonderful captures.

txsnurse · 23rd of June 2008 (Mon)

Wow... That was amazing photo's..

dfrois · 24th of June 2008 (Tue)

Great captures, of a rare event. They sometimes fight when two bees from different nests happen to land on the same flower at the same time. Most of the times it is just a short skermish in flight, but it can get uglier.

Another occasion when there are fights among bees is when killer bees reach an area populated with domestic bees. I hope that is not the case.

Anyway, many congrats on these pics. A pleasure to watch.

DF

newb2pro_1day_or_so · 24th of June 2008 (Tue)

great capture! their eyes make them look angry.

Sugarman · 24th of June 2008 (Tue)

Great series, Brian.

troypiggo · 24th of June 2008 (Tue)

So you witnessed a Bumble Rumble in the Jungle?

23rd of June 2008 (Mon)	#1
LordV Macro Photo-Lord of the Year 2006 Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Worthing UK Posts: 45,934 IMAGE EDITING OK	Bumble bee fight Heard some loud buzzing when I was photographing some hoverflies, went to investigate and saw what I though was two bumble bees mating. They promptly fell straight through the low bush they were on and when I found them again it was obvious they were fighting. The larger one seemed to be winning but the smaller one had a jaw locked onto the larger one's antenna. I'm pretty certain the smaller one had been stung by this time as it was hardly moving. After about 15 mins of this I went inside to get some strong magnifying glasses and some suitable instruments to see if I could unlock the bee from the antenna but the larger bee had flown off. The smaller bee was just still alive so I moved it to a flower pot to be able to see it but it died shortly after. Not sure what was going on but never seen bumble bees fighting before. Brian V. __________________ http://www.flickr.com/photos/lordv/ http://www.lordv.smugmug.com/ Macro Hints and tips http://photography-on-the.net/forum/...d.php?t=807056 Canon 20D, Canon 40D, Canon 5D mk2, Sigma 105mm EX macro, Tamron 90mm macro, Canon MPE-65,18-55 kit lens X2, canon 200mm F2.8 L, Tamron 28-70mm xrdi, Other assorted bits

23rd of June 2008 (Mon)	#2
Bill Pham Cream of the Crop Join Date: May 2007 Location: St. Paul MN Posts: 5,101 IMAGE EDITING OK	Re: Bumble bee fight nice action shot Brian. i never seen them fighting either. Bill __________________ winning is fun and second is for loser I got Mitch hook on wide angle Gear list http://billpham.smugmug.com/

23rd of June 2008 (Mon)	#3
johnkermit1 Goldmember Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: FERNANDINA BEACH FL Posts: 3,772 IMAGE EDITING OK	Re: Bumble bee fight interesting shots indeed. nice find. __________________ MY GEAR C & C ALWAYS WELCOME! http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnkermit1/ http://www.flickr.com/groups/macro-addicts/ http://www.flickr.com/groups/arachnid_macros/

23rd of June 2008 (Mon)	#4
dazzlebea Cream of the Crop Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: SoCal Posts: 5,327 IMAGE EDITING OK	Re: Bumble bee fight What an interesting find, Brian! Well documented UFC watch out for Bumble Bees! __________________ Zenfolio Gallery Gear List

23rd of June 2008 (Mon)	#5
LindaB Cream of the Crop Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Surrey (UK) Posts: 8,136 IMAGE EDITING OK	Re: Bumble bee fight Wow, what great action shots. You can even see what looks like the claw digging in the eye on the last shot. Amazing, but sad this happened. Stuart (Eucera) might be able to tell you what happened there. Linda __________________ http://lindabuckell.zenfolio.com/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/dragonwings55/ Canon 7D \|40D \|G12 \| 350d (300D long gone) 400 F5.6L\|70-200 F4L IS\|24-105 F4L IS\|18-55 Macro: 100mm F2.8L IS\|100mm\| F2.8 \|60mm F2.8.

23rd of June 2008 (Mon)	#6
Jay Lowery Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: california Posts: 1,231	Re: Bumble bee fight must have stole some honey from him. damn honey thief's. __________________ photos http://www.flickr.com/photos/10984084@N05/

23rd of June 2008 (Mon)	#7
Mick Emmett Goldmember Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Kippax, Nr Leeds,Yorkshire, England Posts: 2,592	Re: Bumble bee fight Excellent captures Brian, that'll teach him to keep his eyes off the girls __________________ My Gear List

23rd of June 2008 (Mon)	#8
scotteisenphotography Goldmember Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 3,749 IMAGE EDITING OK	Re: Bumble bee fight very cool too see action like this that would normally be ignored blow up so large __________________ Canon 1Dx\|Canon 1D Mark IV\|Canon 5D Mark III\|14mm 2.8L II\|16-35mm 2.8L II\|24mm 1.4L II\|35mm 1.4L\|50mm 1.2L \|85mm 1.2L II\|70-200 2.8L IS\|200mm 2.0L IS\|300mm 2.8L IS\|400mm 2.8L IS\|800mm 5.6L IS\| 580EX II\| 600EX RT II\|

23rd of June 2008 (Mon)	#9
bandit 1 Cream of the Crop Join Date: May 2006 Location: sometimes Sunny South Devon UK :-) Posts: 5,130	Re: Bumble bee fight Hiya Brian, Superb shots, fantastic details, maybe they were fighting over a nest site, I did read somewhere that this does happen. Cheers for now Mark __________________ Bandit 1 Canon EOS 400D, Sigma 105 Macro, Sigma 70-300 F4-5.6 APO DG Macro, Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4.5 DC MACRO Sigma 500 DG Super, Home made Lighting Unit All shots one handed or "Stump-Bracket " held http://s75.photobucket.com/albums/i318/bandit1_2006/

23rd of June 2008 (Mon)	#10
akmoose Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Alaska Posts: 462 IMAGE EDITING OK	Re: Bumble bee fight Thats amazing! Right place at the right time. Wonderful captures. __________________ http://www.pbase.com/tull777 Canon Gear: 30D SLR(w/Grip Extension), 100-400mm IS, 100mm Macro, 28-135mm IS, 10-22mm, 1.4 Teleconverter, Angle Finder-C, Lensbaby 2.0, Lowepro-DryZone 200 Backpack ... Tight Lines & Best Fishes!

23rd of June 2008 (Mon)	#11
txsnurse Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Texas Posts: 165 IMAGE EDITING OK	Re: Bumble bee fight Wow... That was amazing photo's..

24th of June 2008 (Tue)	#12
dfrois Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Portugal Posts: 8	Re: Bumble bee fight Great captures, of a rare event. They sometimes fight when two bees from different nests happen to land on the same flower at the same time. Most of the times it is just a short skermish in flight, but it can get uglier. Another occasion when there are fights among bees is when killer bees reach an area populated with domestic bees. I hope that is not the case. Anyway, many congrats on these pics. A pleasure to watch. DF __________________ Canon D2000 (oh, yes!), 300D, EF 20-35, EF 50 2.5 Macro, Sigma 70-200 2.8 APO, Sigma 75-300 4-5.6 APO MAcro, Tamron 300 2.8 LD-IF, Sigma APO EX 2x Tele-Converter, Leitz Tele-Tessar 135 f4, Mamyia Auto-Bellows M42, Vivitar Macro-Bellows, plus a bunch of manual lenses...and some Nikon gear as well...(oops...!).

24th of June 2008 (Tue)	#13
newb2pro_1day_or_so Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: OH Posts: 990 IMAGE EDITING OK	Re: Bumble bee fight great capture! their eyes make them look angry. __________________ Dan http://flickr.com/photos/Iseethroughglass www.Iseethroughglass.com Canon 350d, 50D, 50 1.8 II, 50 1.4, 18-55, 100mm macro, Kenko Extension tubes, 430ex, 70-200 2.8 IS, 17-55 2.8 IS w/B&W Circular Polarizer.

24th of June 2008 (Tue)	#14
Sugarman Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Blanche, Tn. USA Posts: 880 IMAGE EDITING OK	Re: Bumble bee fight Great series, Brian. __________________ *Bill* *Some cameras, some lenses, some lights.*

24th of June 2008 (Tue)	#15
troypiggo Goldmember Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Brisbane, AUSTRALIA Posts: 4,596 IMAGE EDITING OK	Re: Bumble bee fight So you witnessed a Bumble Rumble in the Jungle? __________________ "Interesting. You're afraid of insects and women. Ladybugs must render you catatonic." - Sheldon Photoblog \| Flickr \| Gear List \| Macro Rig \| Astro Rig \| Astro Software Post

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