Bert Gildart: Writer and Photographer

©Bert Gildart: (Note: see comment below about the difference between bees and wasps.  As a novice “bee” watcher I mistakenly called the insects pictured here bees when in fact they are wasps. However, the story line still holds as does the drama of watching — AND PHOTOGRAPHING — a wasp (!!) as it emerges from its cell.)

Because of the immense dry spell we are currently experiencing in Montana’s Flathead Valley, our property has been infested with bees and wasps.  During our one month stay in Seattle (see last couple of posts), bees have built many nests around our house.  But the most troublesome nest was one they built right over the door of my tool shed, and if I wanted access to the lawn mower I had to eliminate it.

I sprayed the nest then left it, but several days later read an article in Time Magazine about the decline in bees.  The story explained the absolute necessity of living with bees — if we wanted to continue enjoying vegetables such as avocado, watermelon, celery, cotton, and onions.

 

Hoping to better understand the  biology of bees, yesterday I removed the seemingly inert nest.  I then opened it, discovering life in the nest was still emerging.  It was an incredible opportunity to photograph a complex biological event that has taken millions of years to perfect.

Though my spray had killed the active bees inside the nest there remained a number of cells covered with wax that had apparently escaped the chemical’s toxic effect.  Several new bees were emerging and I watched as this aspect of their lives played out, discovering that although they have a complex life cycle its essence could be summarized.

One bee has just emerged from cell, another is about to emerge.  Emergence is not head first, rather it is tail first. Completely
free from its cell, a bee prepares to take flight. This struggle to emerge from the cell takes hours.

Queen bees lay eggs in each of the cells (white spots in accompanying photos) which soon hatch to become larva.  Worker bees feed the larva, which, soon  develop into  mature larva.  Again worker bees enter the picture covering each cell with wax.

Yet another stage plays out, and over a 13-day period  larva are  transformed into pupa — then into to recognizable bees, but ones that must soon confront an immense challenge.

Here’s where I entered the picture, watching as these, now,  fully recognizable bees began to eat away the wax that covered the cell.  But more dramatically, I watched as these bees struggled to emerge.

Only a few of the cells remained viable, but for my purposes, that was all I needed.  Of course I needed lots of time – about three hours – to create the pictures shown here, for the only thing instant about bee biology is their sting.

Worker bees cover each of the cells with a wax shortly after queen lays her eggs.  Subsequently, the larva inside the cell
develops into a pupa then to a recognizable bee which must literally eat its way free of the cap over the cell. 
Bee on left has just completed the task.

To gain freedom from the cell each of the bees would eat — push and prod; eat –  push and prod until, finally, its tail would start to appear.  The bees struggled some more until a fully formed bee  emerged to rest on the lip of the cell.  Here, they would swirl their wings.

But, one bee, apparently not liking its new environment, crawled back into the cell.  Moments later a second struggle ensued and eventually the bee returned to the lip of the cell where it again fluttered its wings — apparently practicing for life outside the nest.

Thirty minutes later, the bee lifted itself and took off, but just where it went, I know not.

I made this sequence of photographs using a macro lens and two electronic flash units.  Though I am not sorry I destroyed the nest on the door of my shed, I do wish the bee population at large good health.  They are fascinating creatures and any interested in learning about the prospect of a world devoid of bees should pick up a copy of the August 19^th issue of Time Magazine.  You’ll recognize the issue by its cover, which features a photograph of a bee in flight.

AIRSTREAM TRAVELS LAST YEAR:

*Sexton Glacier, One of Glacier National Park’s Last?

BOOKS TO ENHANCE YOUR TRAVELS

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 14th, 2013 at 7:43 pm and is filed under Natural History/Conservation, Outdoors, Photography. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.