Another bee, but...

...a frontal view this time.

We like to let at least one artichoke go to flower so we can enjoy the almost luminous purple spiky blossom. The bees really love them - at any given time there are half a dozen or more buzzing around each flower, and often there are several of them spelunking amid the stalagmites of the stamens (too much alliterative metaphor? forgive me).

View embiggened.

A few more views in this Google album.