PURPLE CONEFLOWERS

It's Flower Friday......I love FF days but, to tell the truth, there are no flowers around here this time of year so I'm Back Blipping some blossoms from my garden.  This is Bee Heaven and all the local bees will testify to that fact.  I have seen as many as 6 different species here all at one time all intent on gathering as much pollen/nectar as they can. They are totally uninterested in you, as an observer, they just go about their business and totally ignore you.
~
I know people ....grown humans...who can be totally intimidated by one single bee to the extent that they will run screaming from the area if one shows up.  It must scare the bees to death!  With a modicum of persuasion I have convinced bee-frightened photographers to get right into the faces of the bees here shoving a big lens right at them and being totally amazed that the bees ignore them and their fancy photo gear and just stick to business.
~
The truth is that there's a lot of people who call any small insect with black and yellow stripes a "bee."  The fact is that there's bees and there's wasps and there's hornets.  There is reason to be wary of the latter two as they come armed with a bad attitude (especially the Bald-faced Hornets...Dolichovespula maculata).  It's best not to annoy them....but BEES....they are totally uninterested in you as long as you leave them to their business and don't bother them.  Just sit back and drink in the beauty of these flowers.
~
BEST IN LARGE.