Bee Swarm!

[Swampy]

Was going to crop this one with just the sky showing and pose this as a "what causes these black spots?" question, but, decided not to. Was out mountain biking today and I'm haulin' butt down this hill and turn a blind corner. Next thing I know, I'm getting pelted all over, including my face. This has got to be one of the biggest bee swarms I've ever experienced. Didn't get stung or chased. It was just really strange. I couldn't get close enough to see what they were flying in and out of either. Of course, I made my wife and son ride through it. :) It was either that, or they had to pedal uphill for 2 1/2 miles and meet me back at the car later.

[Swampy]

Funny. The matrix auto focus couldn't "track" the bees too well...

Here's a full pixel crop of a section of one of the shots I took....

[bjnicholls]

That's cool!

I wonder if you were seeing a "coronation" swarm with bees following a new queen to find a new hive.

I tried tracking midges with AF once and decided it was a lost cause. Too many targets moving in and out of AF fields.

[Swampy]

Originally posted by bjnicholls
That's cool!

I wonder if you were seeing a "coronation" swarm with bees following a new queen to find a new hive.

They certainly paid no mind to me taking 30-40 of them out when I rode through them. They just kept going to the right into that bush. It was like something out of a movie, coming around that corner and hearing a buzz getting louder and louder until they started hitting me.

[Jess]

How far would you go? Nah wouldnt catch me photographing bees! Snakes,,,wild animals..yeah but bees..???? nasty! Cool photo though!:confused:

[Swampy]

Originally posted by Jess
How far would you go? Nah wouldnt catch me photographing bees! Snakes,,,wild animals..yeah but bees..???? nasty! Cool photo though!:confused:

No death wish here. How far would I go (besides the accidental ride through the first time)? About 50 yards, which is where I took the pictures above. That was pretty safe. As for animals (bobcats, mountain lions, coyotes, etc.), depends on where I am. If I go to the place where the above bees are, I would get pretty darn close to most of the wildlife up there. If I were in an area unfamiliar to me, then common sense would have kick in and I'd probably keep my distance.

Without people like me, who would take the "Cool photo" you saw above or other cool ones? :)

Thanks for the compliment!