Daily Archives: September 3, 2012
Honey bee on Pineapple mint
Pineapple mint
Mints are very attractive group of plants for bees because it produces lots of nectar.
The cone like flower structures of the pineapple mint consist of numerous florets that open, starting at the base of the cone. It takes about 3-4 weeks for all florets to open.
Original photo- This tiny bee is on the center flower.
This photo was enlarged 125% from the original photo
During the summer months there are a lot of bees out there, but look closely- some of these bees are tiny (6mm 1/4″ long).
Bonnie, my web master showed me how to crop and enlarge with Adobe. 
I have been having a lot of trouble with focusing on these small bees. I am using Fujifilm EXR camera. Yesterday I was playing around with focusing on some text. I pressed the shutter down half-way, and the camera focused to 2″ away from the subject. Amazing. Then I released the shutter- and it focused back to the default. I did not realize that I should continue pressing the shutter to take the focused picture. I thought it would hold the focus until I partially depressed the shutter again. But not so. So now with renewed knowlege, I will see what I can find in the garden today.
Since I expected another sunny day today. I made sure my flowers were well watered, so they could make nectar for any visiting bee.
