Bee covered in pollen from a hibiscus flower.
This summer, my Rose of Sharon bush produced the most blooms I've ever seen, and that's an 18-year-old bush! One of the side benefits of having so many blooms is that it was a magnet for bees of all shapes and sizes, as well as hoverflies, sweat bees, and ants. Every bee was absolutely coated in the pollen from the anther of the flower. I'd watch them fly from bloom to bloom, rolling around in the pollen before flying off to the next flower. Sometimes they would land on a petal or a leaf and rub their legs together or use their legs to clear the pollen from their antennae and eyes. Photographing them was like shootin' fish in a barrel. No shortage of opportunity. I spent quite a few days out there, snapping as many photos as I could. Here's one of my favs.
