Hitchin' a Ride

The fifth in a series of six fine art images depicting insect and flower interaction. A Buff-Tailed Bumblebee feeds amongst a spray of Crocosmia on a warm August afternoon. Some of the flowers were past their best but this Bee was determined to take every last bit of pollen that it possibly could. On closer inspection a tiny white mite can be seen underneath the bee's wing, clinging on to the insect's fur and hitching a lift to a new flower where it will likely hop off and wait for another bee to land, and unknowingly transport it to a new nest. Once there, the mite will feed upon wax, pollen, nest debris and other small insects, but it is thought that the majority of mites don't cause any harm to the host, and that they can actually prove to be beneficial in most instances.

The image is printed on 275gsm photographic paper with a print size of 16 x 12 inches. It comes mounted in a rustic glass fronted 20 x 16 inch frame and is strictly limited to 100 pieces. The price is £90