Do bees sleep? I guess on some level I always knew insects had to sleep but it was never a question I asked myself. As it turns out bees do sleep!
A nature photographer Joe Neely came across two globe mallow bees napping in a colorful globe mallow flower. The creatures were snuggled together in the center of the orange-crimson bloom. A scene that is almost too good to be true. There were several other flowers with occupants but these two made for such a sweet and beautiful composition where they seem to be holding hands.
Realizing that he had the perfect chance. Neely immediately got out his macro photography equipment and snapped a few pictures. “Some bees retire to their hives each night, but this species is often found sleeping in the flower that bears their name” said Joe Neely for Earthwonders.
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Nature photographer captured adorable sight of bees sleeping in globe mallow flowers.
“I strive to capture wildlife from a different point of view. With that said, my background as a photographer is simple, I grew up cherishing my national geographic magazines and I always wanted to be a wildlife photographer. Nowadays, this is what I do, I seek out wildlife to observe and photograph their behaviors, looking for the extraordinary in their everyday ordinary lives”.
“It was springtime, I and my wife Niccole (both of us are avid nature photographers) went out in search of Mexican poppy wildflowers but the fields were empty. However, we came across a beautiful Grove of flowers on the side of the road so we stopped to take a some pictures. Niccole was looking for the perfect flower and notice some bees inside one of the orange globe mallow blooms. I hurried over and observe them and was there for several minutes, even after sunset. We joked that they looked pollen drunk as they stumbled about climbing up the twigs instead of flying. Soon after, all the flowers on the plant had a motionless occupant in them. They were going to sleep, I’ve never seen this behavior before”.
“Then, as sunset grew darker one last bee was trying hard to find his own flower but they were all taken so he crawled into petals with this other bee who shifted a little to give him room. I thought wow this is the most perfect composition I’ve ever seen, so I got my macro equipment out and took a few snaps. Their blue eyes and the orange flowers contrasted beautifully. It wasn’t until we got home that we learned more about them and their unique behavior of sleeping in globe mallow blooms.” the photographer further explained.
Neely’s photo turned into a meme for us all to share.
“I take a lot of nature and wildlife photos but this one is truly unique.” he emphasized.
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