The price of a sip...

I love my Canon 500D close-up filter. I rarely carry my 105mm Macro, and always have my 18-200 (the 500D fits this zoom lens).

Yesterday, while looking for tree pics, I noticed some bees working the milkweeds. I threw on the 500D and voila, a Macro shot!!

The biology of the situation is that milkweeds have their pollen in little packs (=pollinia). When the bee finds the right spot to take a sip of nectar, chances are one of its legs is in the crevice where a sticky pad attaches to two pollinia. When the bee leaves, it pulls the pollinia with it. The middle leg of this bee has two pollinia (orange structure near the base) attached. Other images of the same bee show 3 to 4 legs with pollinia - One thirsty bee!!!!