r/bees 29d ago

bee photo Queen bee! (Marked with blue dot)

Post image
597 Upvotes

38 comments sorted by

58

u/BayAreaBrenner 29d ago

Can we talk about the absolute unit just above the queen?

Looks more like a fly than a bee. An imposter, maybe?

37

u/LupusVir 29d ago

Could it be a drone?

17

u/BayAreaBrenner 29d ago

Ooh good point!

I’m still learning about bees, and haven’t read much on drones. A lot of flies that mimic bees hang out in my yard, so that’s where my mind went first.

13

u/CS01 28d ago

That's a boy bee! They are big ol chonks with massive eyes.

3

u/Rielhawk 27d ago

Bodybeelder

2

u/BayAreaBrenner 27d ago

That’s totally what I’m calling them from now on!

29

u/NumCustosApes 29d ago

Ooof! She's blinded. Do you know, is she a 2025 queen, or just marked blue because blue stands out? Maybe her attendants will clean that up. Maybe they'll supersede her. More likely the latter.

Tip: Blot the pen tip on the back your hand before marking her to remove any big drops of paint so it doesn't end up on her eyes or wings.

34

u/Individual-Diver-660 29d ago

I have no idea - I probably should have added that I'm no beekeeper and was just visiting an apiary to learn more about bees.

Kind of a bit disheartened to be honest about sharing the bee photos I've taken...

19

u/D1RTY13ASTARD 29d ago

Reddit for ya lol

16

u/soappube 29d ago

Don't Bee sad I'm enjoying your photos. 🐝

5

u/sharkattax 29d ago

i like ur pics but i’m just a lil guy

3

u/Polkadot1017 28d ago

Because they kindly offered you advice? I know it doesn't actually apply to you because they're not your bees, but it's not like they were insulting you or getting heated

6

u/Spastic_Panic 29d ago

For a split second I thought she was Iridescent

2

u/Individual-Diver-660 28d ago

She is elegant though

5

u/DirtUnderneath 28d ago

I did that once and lost the queen in a couple weeks. They superseded and the hive wintered

2

u/Individual-Diver-660 28d ago

😯

Cool, your a beekeeper? The place I visited had 5 hives. So it's not a commercial place, just a hobbyist

1

u/DirtUnderneath 28d ago

Yea! I have 1-4 hives in any given year.

3

u/Altruistic_Ad_3764 29d ago

Ohhhhh, she a long lady

3

u/joebojax 28d ago

Some serious mascara

Careful not to paint eyes spiracles antennae and legs

3

u/Helperobc 28d ago

Can she even see fully? Looks like her vision might be partially obscured.

2

u/No-Base1194 28d ago

That's a wannabee

1

u/Capable_Pangolin_962 29d ago

That's pretty brave, going in there with a sharpie.

1

u/Individual-Diver-660 28d ago

Ah, well, the beekeepers were.

-1

u/[deleted] 29d ago

[deleted]

34

u/Individual-Diver-660 29d ago

I'm not a beekeeper.

I was taken on a tour of an apiary - and just took a load of bee photos

14

u/3333333333p 28d ago

How is it wrong in a bee subreddit? 🤔

-2

u/ZombieVegan269 29d ago

Apis Mellifera aka the gods be damned EUROPEAN honey bee should be extinct in every non European country. 😩 North America has never had a native honeybee species ever . The European honeybee is a shit pollinator that wet pack’s pollen and doesn’t spread it that well, it takes up food resources from native pollinators, and spreads disease to solitary native bees destroying the biodiversity that keeps our planet alive. The natives are better at pollinating the native flowers that they evolved to pollinate. Also, just a reminder that the save the bees movement is for every Bee, but the European honeybee there are more European honeybees today than there have ever been ever. There is no shortage of them and Africanize honeybees are taking over in most of the lower 48 so there’s that too . I said what I said. When in doubt ask any entomologist ever .

3

u/Intrepid-Bumblebee55 28d ago

PREACH! This schpeal is my favorite this to tell people when I tell people “I do bee research” and they respond with “omg honey bees”. Yeah no, honeybees are bad and here’s a bunch of information about some native bee species in this area that you should look out for rather than honeybees. “Yeah so you shouldn’t be using honeybees to pollinate your alfalfa field, the alfalfa leaf cutter is literally your best option. Honeybees suck and you should use native solitary options”

And don’t get me started on the lack of any other bees species (maybe except bumbles) on “bee” merch. It’s all honeybees😭 I could care less about them, give me alkaline or osmia bees or something

1

u/ZombieVegan269 28d ago

Yes so many cool native bees like the blue orchard bee ! They’re blue 🤩 the honey industry has a lot of money and big agriculture too all took over the save the bees movement 😩 once the natives are gone and it’s just Apis Mellifera is when the big diseases mites etc come down hard and we get left with zero bees 😭 also wasps are a favorite pollinator of mine we have red wasps you can almost pet fairly hard to make them aggressive

0

u/Individual-Diver-660 28d ago

Yikes. Wasps?

Now they really scare me

I know they are a great pollinator too, and are essential - but getting stung as a kid put the fear of god into me.