bee busy!

I took this on our balcony, using the macro lens and a flash (550EX).

The camera was in manual mode.

great shot

Of the Three most recent posts identifying their photos as being of a "Bee", this is the first that truly looks like it could be a Bee. I still have a slight doubt due to the fact that I don't see pollen baskets on its rearmost set of legs. There is a chance that this one too is a Syphrid Fly as the others more clearly were. The mouthparts on this one do look more bee-like to me.

great shot. The texture in the bee are wonderful. Sharp, good DOF. Much above the average PN macro shot. One thought: Wouldn't this present better rotated 90 degrees clockwise

First of all thanks Bob for your nice and helpful comment. I didn't try to turn the pic before, but it looks good.

To Maury: If you tell me it's an ant, I will probably believe you too, i am not very familiar with insects. But my wife - who's a teacher in biologies - confirmed the bee. I have a print-out of the pic in better quality and there you can see the pollen baskets. By the way: a title of the foto 'Syphrid Fly busy!' would sound rather senseless.

Stunning

Bee Beautiful