Photographing Bees in Flight - A Few Tips

I took some of my best flying bee photographs during the lockdown period and this was possible because of a creeper that has abundant flowers, an attraction to not only Honey Bees and Bumblebees but also Sunbirds. Surprisingly enough I took quite a few photographs of flying Honey bees using manual focus and fill-in flash. Autofocus cannot handle tiny fast-flying insects and the flash is used to freeze motion.

Another, most important factor in photographing flying bees is the lighting. Some of the best snaps were taken early in the morning in subdued lighting when the flash could be used without the fear of overexposure resulting in the washing out of colours. The setting that worked for above snaps included an f-stop of 8, shutter speed of 1/200, an ISO of 800. However, these settings might not work for all lighting conditions.

Bumblebees are fun to photograph, especially as they're bigger than Honeybees and a bit slower. Unlike the earlier snaps of the Honeybees, I used natural lighting for all the photographs of the Bumblebees. Also, since the Bumblebees were at a greater distance, I used the camera's Autofocus function. The shutter speed also went up to 2000 and above in order to freeze motion.

Unfortunately, the greater distance of the Bumblebees compared to the Honeybees resulted in a tradeoff in the quality of the images. However, the snaps came out quite well as you might agree!

I decided to add a few more miscellaneous photographs of Sunbirds, Wasps and Moths because they are relatable to Bumblebees and Honey Bees. In fact, they all feed on nectar and they all help in pollination of flowers. It is a known fact that pollinators play an important role in preserving the well-being of our planet. Somebody even claimed that when bees go, we will go too! If you look closely at the hind legs of the Honey Bees and the Bumble Bee, you will see thick sacs of pollen. Sometimes these sacs are so heavy that the insects find it difficult to fly.

The female Sunbird lacks the dark purple colour of its mate, and it is mostly green in colour. This pair visits the garden frequently and they are a couple, surely!