Late winter with the Mason Bees - Macro Photography

The flower petals of the Peach tree were burned by the recent frosts, though this did not stop the Mason Bees from getting nectar from inside the flower and helping to pollinate it at the same time. These Bees do not have pollen sacks like Honey Bees do, but they do tend to cover their hairy body in pollen and works well to spread it to the next flower they visit.

Living in North Georgia we usually start getting warm days in February, but its a fake spring and we quickly go back into freezing temperatures. The Peach tree our property tends to flower during this period of "fake spring"

Camera Model	Lumix GH3
Lens	Olympus MSC ED M. 60mm Macro lens
Filter	none
Aperture	f/5
Shutter Speed	1/500 sec
Film Speed	200
Spectrum	Visual Light
Wavelength	380 through 700 nanometers
Location	North Georgia USA.

For the last few months they have been hibernating and this is their first chance to get some fresh nectar from flowers. Most of the flowers have not opened in late winter, so the Peach tree is a valuable resource to them.

Looking close up at the picture above, I learned the Mason Bees wings are iridescent. Cool to see the vaines as well going through the thin membrane of their wings.

A male Mason Bee is smaller than the females and do not make the homes, but they do serve their purpose of breeding. They die shortly after and the females build the nests and lay the eggs. A male bee can be seen above, smaller than the others.

One of them bending over to get into the flowers stamens. Looking at the Peach tree branches close up they have these fine black hairs. Or at least I think its part of the tree, may be a fungus, lichen or mold for all I know.

I find one that has landed on the trunk of the tree, it was rubbing off its sides. I think cleaning off the mud and other debris it climbed through to get out. I think these bees are the ones from my 2x4 homes and did not hatch from the cocoons ive left out.

The leaves of the Peach tree were forming as well at this point in the season, giving the pink flowers a nice touch of green around them. A Bee is working in that flower trying to get to the nectar and pollen.

The frost damage can be seen on the petals of the Peach tree, though maybe the Bees visiting them is a sign they survived. Not all the buds opened when we got snow recently. So maybe we will be lucky and get a few peaches this year. Fingers crossed.. hah

On one of the cold windy days, the freshly emerged Bees took cover back in their homes. One of them was sticking out checking out the weather and deciding if it wants to come out that day.

On the warmer days the solitary Bees tend to hang around the 2x4 homes, probably a male waiting for females to start to emerge. The males will also assist the females in getting out of their cocoons from what ive heard. So its just waiting around to help out its bee friends.

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