Hellebore

I'm starting to accumulate photos entitled 'Hellebore'... perhaps it's time to think up some new names...

I think I've blipped this one before, but it does seem to like monochrome, although I tend to forget that it will turn out very low key. The individual flowers are all at various stages of growth - the central one is just beginning to open fully, and the one to the right of that is just going to seed. 

While I was photographing these a honeybee appeared on the nearby snowdrops, the first I've seen this year I think. It didn't look big enough to be a queen, but I'd have thought that only queens would be around this early. No sign of bumble bees yet, and they're usually the first out.