Discussions of group: Bees, Bzzz, Bees !

Bee mimic identification

nobody@ipernity.com (Imogen) — Thu, 21 Aug 2014 22:32:22 +0000

Imogen has started a discussion:

Hi,
Here is another useful website to help identify those insects that look like but are not bees, that is bee mimics. Please note this is for identification of species in North America but still useful for other parts of the world since some species are found everywhere.

beespotter.mste.illinois.edu/topics/mimics

Happy spotting!

Imogen
Adminstrator

Australian Bee Identification sources

nobody@ipernity.com (Imogen) — Sat, 03 Aug 2013 23:50:39 +0000

Imogen has started a discussion:

Hi,
For the Australian members the following online sources are quite comprehensive. However, a fair number of the bee species found in Australia occur worldwide so northern hemisphere members may find these links useful:

Australian Museum:

australianmuseum.net.au/search?keyword=bees

Aussie Bee:

www.aussiebee.com.au/index.html

Regards
Imogen

Bumble Bee identification guide for UK

nobody@ipernity.com (Imogen) — Sat, 03 Aug 2013 23:26:37 +0000

Imogen has started a discussion:

Hi,
Looking through members' pictures Bumble Bees appear most often after Honey Bees. This link has a good ID guide and easy to use, although it is specific to the UK:

bumblebeeconservation.org/about-bees/identification

Happy Bee-ing.

Imogen

European Bug ID Sources

nobody@ipernity.com (Janet Brien) — Sat, 03 Aug 2013 21:51:01 +0000

Janet Brien has started a discussion:

Step-by-step guide for bugs in Europe:
www.bumblebee.org/invertebrates/InsectID.htm

ID Request for bugs in Europe:
www.amentsoc.org/insects/what-bug-is-this/non-members-id-service.html
(you will need to sign up to Yahoo to access the group where you upload a picture for ID)

ID Request for animals and plants in Europe:
ispot.org.uk
(again, you will need to sign up to access this free service)

BugGuide will Identify Your Bee!

nobody@ipernity.com (Janet Brien) — Sat, 03 Aug 2013 16:00:58 +0000

Janet Brien has started a discussion:

I wanted to let you know about an awesome free service that's available to help identify unknown species of insects, arachnids or other tiny creatures. If you're not aware, BugGuide, which is a hugely popular "critter" site, has an I.D. Request section where you upload a picture including any information you know about the subject, and within a day -- often within 15 MINUTES -- there will be an answer posted in the comments! You can attach multiple pictures after uploading the main image if you would like.

I have used this feature several times now and I've gotten a positive ID each time. In fact, it's quite obvious that there are many rabid entomology experts out there who wait expectantly for the next "challenge" to be posted. They can't wait for the next entry to their educational game! :)

The only thing you need to do is sign up. It's free and you won't get annoying emails.

bugguide.net/node/view/6/bgimage

By the way, if you need help with bird identification, I discovered BirdForum a couple of years ago, and they have the very same sort of ID request section. They are a huge site, and like BugGuide, ravenous bird experts wait with great anticipation for the next unidentified bird species to be uploaded so they can play, "who can ID this bird fastest"! This is another free site, just join up and you can post your picture for an ID! :)

www.birdforum.net/forumdisplay.php?f=114

Bees, Bzzz, Bees! group guidelines/rules

nobody@ipernity.com (Imogen) — Sat, 03 Aug 2013 08:25:05 +0000

Imogen has started a discussion:

Hi,
Several members recently had difficulty locating the Bee Group rules, so here they are:

"Only photographs of bees, beehives or pictures with bees as the main theme allowed please.

The aim of the group is to encourage respect for bees and the work they do for humanity. Include name/species of bee in your picture description to promote identification and knowledge of bees.

Please do not post pictures with inappropriate language in titles.

Please add your best quality pictures - the minimum is subject in focus, in the frame and adequately lit. Ipernity kindly provides software for editing if you do not have any of your own. Photographs that do not meet these criteria may be deleted without warning."

Thank you,
Imogen, Administrator

Please identify the bee in your photographs

nobody@ipernity.com (Imogen) — Fri, 02 Aug 2013 23:47:12 +0000

Imogen has started a discussion:

Hello,
I would like to ask all members to endeavour to add identification of the bee in their photographs. This can be part of your title if you wish or added to the description below the picture. It is acceptable to use "honeybee" or "bumble bee" although in the interest of furthering your own and other members' knowledge of bees it would be great if you include the correct scientific name as well.

This may seem an onerous request but there are many internet identification sites to help us. As the group has grown and now includes members from a wide geographical spectrum the types of bees added to the group has grown also. It seems logical to progress to the next step and identify the bees members are photographing.

Identifying the bee(s) in your picture will have the added bonus of ensuring it is actually a bee and not a wasp or hoverfly (flower fly) etc..

I'm sure you will embrace this as part of the appreciation of bees. It will be a learning curve for us all. I am happy to try and help with identification although my knowledge of northern hemisphere species is not extensive. Perhaps members more knowledgeable in that regard will assist with identification where they can. I will leave it up to each member whether they want to add additional nomenclature to existing photographs in the group, or not. Moving forward, it would be appreciated if everyone identifies bees in new pictures added to the group.

We have a group pool of pictures to be proud of.

Thank you,
Imogen
Group Administrator

Wonderful BBC article about tracking bees

nobody@ipernity.com (Pam J) — Fri, 02 Aug 2013 06:25:05 +0000

Pam J has started a discussion:

I thought this might be of interest

A marvelous BBC article about tracking Bees

Our Bee group is one month old !

nobody@ipernity.com (Imogen) — Fri, 21 Jun 2013 06:41:18 +0000

Imogen has started a discussion:

Hello,
Another milestone for our group today: we are one month old and our twentieth member joined today. For a newly formed group we have an incredible array of pictures of many different bees and some very interesting bee behaviour. There are some memorable moments this past month as we have seen bees caught in mid-flight, bees on a beautiful array of flowers, bee hives on a temple in India, bees holding onto twigs to "roost" for sleep and numerous superb macro images.

Every member has made a valuable contribution to the success of the group and I thank you all. I would like to encourage more interaction between our members and kindly ask you to comment on each other's pictures a bit more to help develop the group. Please feel free to share your experiences with bees in the discussion forum, on existing topics or start one of your own. There is an interesting topic about bee "roosting" behaviour currently being discussed. As summer unfolds in the Northern Hemisphere keep a lookout to see whether you can capture any bees "roosting". It is my challenge to you.

Best wishes,
Imogen

Let Sleeping Bees Lie?

nobody@ipernity.com (C.Rayz) — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 21:14:58 +0000

C.Rayz has started a discussion:

Hi all, Imogen asked me to pop in and start a discussion about a recent find of mine, that some bees actually lock thier jaws onto bits of grass or shrub and 'roost' there until the sun returns or morning. I found this very interesting behaviour and had never seen or heard of it before.

It would be interesting to hear about more odd behaviours that others have observed in bees.

Let Sleeping Bees Lie

Large loss of bees in Florida

nobody@ipernity.com (Imogen) — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 23:03:45 +0000

Imogen has started a discussion:

The recent banning by the European Union of three insecticides harmful to bees is good news. Hopefully this is the beginning of a world wide trend in tackling this important issue.

The article in the link below makes it clear how devastating chemical spraying can be. In September 2011 some 12 million bees in 800 hives in Florida, USA were killed in one day from pesticide spraying. While the article is not conclusive about the cause of the die off as it was published shortly after the event in 2011, subsequent investigation proved it was chemical spraying for mosquito control that caused the die off of bees.

www.realfarmacy.com/tens-of-millions-of-florida-bees-mysteriously-drop-dead-in-one-day-beekeepers-blame-pesticides

Imogen

European Union bans three insecticide chemicals that affect bees

nobody@ipernity.com (Imogen) — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 06:16:35 +0000

Imogen has started a discussion:

A very good article to read regarding the banning by the EU of three neonicotinoid insecticides imidacloprid, clothianidin and thiamethoxam :

Link:

theconversation.com/the-buzz-on-bee-pesticides-australia-should-consider-a-ban-13821

Imogen
Group Administrator

Our group is one week old today !

nobody@ipernity.com (Imogen) — Sat, 01 Jun 2013 08:32:20 +0000

Imogen has started a discussion:

I want to thank each and every member for their faith in taking the plunge to join this new group on Ipernity. Your wonderful photographs added this past week ensured a fantastic start-up for Bees, Bzzz, Bees!

There are also several non-members who have kindly added their pictures upon my request. All of you bring something different and unique to the group. The more than 60 images thus far represent many facets of the fascination we share about bees.

I am sure we shall attract more members because of the quality of the work shown here and the friendliness of the people.

Thank you again and good wishes to all of you,

Imogen
Group Administrator

Include plant / flower type and location in your pictures...

nobody@ipernity.com (Imogen) — Mon, 27 May 2013 00:30:18 +0000

Imogen has started a discussion:

One of our members, Jacques, includes detailed information on his pictures such as flower or plant type and location where the photograph was taken. I think this is a very good idea as it will add to our knowledge of plants bees like to visit. It means we can look out for these plants on our wanderings and take photographs of our own. Or use these plants in our gardens too.

Since members are from different geographical locations this information provides greater insight and understanding of bees. My own pictures are captioned with information I feel may benefit viewers.

What do you think?

Imogen

Ipernity has the hiccups today 27 May 2013

nobody@ipernity.com (Imogen) — Mon, 27 May 2013 00:08:31 +0000

Imogen has started a discussion:

Ipernity is experiencing some problems at the moment. You may have noticed a non-group related picture in our Bees group - it is the result of a glitch in Ipernity's system not the fault of the owner of the picture.

I have been informed thousands of Flickr users are in the process of joining Ipernity and moving huge numbers of pictures across. This is causing some problems on Ipernity such as slow searches, difficulty adding pictures and so on.

I have contacted Ipernity help team and they are working on deleting this image from our group. Thank you for your understanding and patience,

Imogen
Group Administrator

Welcome message from group administrator.

nobody@ipernity.com (Imogen) — Fri, 24 May 2013 10:45:38 +0000

Imogen has started a discussion:

Welcome to the newly created group Bees, Bzzz, Bees! I am excited by the possibilities this new group may bring to our shared love of bees. Whether you are a casual observer of bees as you go about your daily life or more systematic in your study and photography of bees, all your contributions are appreciated here.

I hope to attract members to the group from both Northern and Southern hemispheres to ensure the continuity and interest in the group through the year and so avoid the inevitable hiatus that would otherwise result during winter. For, without flowering plants we cannot enjoy the bees.

Since I am in Australia my experiences and views reflect Southern hemisphere conditions. However, in Australia we grow a large number of plants from the Northern hemisphere, so there is a common element there; and several bee species, like honey bees, are found all over the globe. Over the years, I have renovated or started from scratch several gardens so I have a fair amount of knowledge and experience of bee attracting plants.

I have a particular interest in bees indigenous to Australia as you will see from my photographs. There are many species of native Australian bees each one more interesting than the next. Their unique habits and life cycle set them apart from honey bees and so extends the rich tapestry of the bee kingdom.

It is also my aim to promote knowledge about plants bees love best. In future discussions there will be suggestions for easy care plants to attract bees to your garden. We want to see your bee pictures !

With warm and sincere wishes,

Imogen
Group Administrator