The Furry Eyeball

Alternative titles: Rescued from Certain Death!... or A Spider Goes Hungry... or The Pollen Face-Plant...

Large reveals the (pollen covered) fine hairs all over this honeybees eyes.

As I was photographing another insect, I noticed this bee struggling in a nearby web. As I moved to a spot where I could free the bee by moving a stick under him, allowing him to grab on, I realized just how close to being finished he was... The spider was just an inch away!

After the successful rescue, I decided to place the bee on a nice pollen filled flower. (Where else would a bee like to be?) However, I hadn't taken into account that the bee was pretty tired from its struggle and possibly covered in sticky web gunk... So, as it dismounted from the stick onto the flower, it basically did a face plant into the pollen and ended up with eyes covered in yellow. Ugh. It now appeared to be further stressed (though not in the immediate danger in was recently in).

I was hoping that it would work things out on its own at this point, but after watching it for a bit, I realized that it needed more help. So, again, I prodded it onto the stick. This time eased I it to the ground where it spent some time cleaning. Then, it started to flutter its wings and eventually it successfully took off! Whew! Rescue complete.