Even bigger bee

A difficult couple of sessions at the grove today. I decided to try something different on the focusing problem, instead of leaning in to compensate for the camera error, I adjusted the focus ring a set amount. The results were disastrous, so many shots went in the bin. Also, yesterday I managed to twist my knee while doing blipping ground work. It didn't seem too bad yesterday, I didn't even mention it, but this morning I was hobbling like the old man that I am.

Fortunately I still had twelve reasonable shots to choose from: a few dragon shots, a cute caterpillar, hopper, couple of bugs, a couple of lizard shots and this large bee, I'm talking HUGE! All the shots were blipworthy, the lizard was a very close second, decisions.

I have seen this bee flying around a few times but never got close enough to raise my camera, but today it hit the ground about eight feet away. I was very apprehensive about the approach, certainly wasn't going to be knees and elbows as I wanted a guaranteed escape plan. A reasonable estimate of the length would be one and three-quarter inches and looking very mean. No, I didn't ask it to hold still while I measured it with my steel rule.

I will do some research on this one and update the text later.

Indonesia certainly has some big bees and wasps, in fact big everything. A few days ago, I caught sight of a black dragonfly. I set off after it on the off chance that it landed. On closer examination it was a black wasp of enormous dimensions. I can't tell you how relieved I was when it flew over the wall and was gone for good. Had it landed I would have felt compelled to try and blip it.

With bees you can get away with a lot, if the bee gets spooked, it simply flies away, as do the small wasps. But I have found that the bigger the wasp, the more likely it is to stand its ground and square up to you, like the red spotted wasp did a few days ago. Some people will say that if you stand still, they will leave you alone. But experience has taught me that the best method of dealing with an aggressive wasp is to run like hell, wave your arms around like a windmill and yodel like Frank Ifield.

Update - You woul think that something this big would bee easy to identify. I cannot even find another photo. Same with the hairy bee, nada.

The largest bee in he world is 1.5" so I have probably over estimated this bees length. I will return tomorrow and see if I can do an overlay photo with a rule.

Dave