Looking through recent photos, it occurs to me that when I take pictures of bees they almost invariably end up as rear views.
This doesn’t seem to make much sense: surely it’s unwise to creep up on a creature whose defence mechanism is probably automatic and very much located in its rear end.
Then again, the business ends of bees can be quite glorious.
Orange furry shorts are hardly the most slimming of outfits, and nor are football-jersey stripes, but I can’t imagine a bee asking “Does my bum look big in this?” I get the impression that, despite a diet of honey and a predisposition to rotundity, bees are far more likely to say “If you’ve got it, flaunt it.”
I suppose there will always be some who worry about such things, though, which might explain the more muted colours and careful positioning of this bee, who didn’t seem to want anyone to see her posterior.
Trying to find out a little more about the creatures in the photos, I have discovered the Bumblebee Conservation Trust website, which is full of fascinating information. The rest of my Sunday afternoon may now be lost in learning about bees.
Or perhaps I’ll just find some Ogden Nash to read:
“Sure, deck your lower limbs in pants;
Yours are the limbs, my sweeting.
You look divine as you advance —
Have you seen yourself retreating?”
don't confuse the narrator 
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