It’s wild!
And I can’t say I’ve ever seen a black-tailed bee fly either. Gorgeous little creature.
It bees like a bee to fake you out to think it will sting you when it’s harmless.
Wonder if they pollinate like bees.
I wish I had filmed one once. I swear it sounded like a baby who MMM MMM MMMs when he loves whatever he’s eating. It was so cool.
They do buzz there MMMs like they are loving that pollen. The Bee Fly doesn’t have pollen sacks, so it’s not a pollinator.
I just love that sound. And bummer the bee fly doesn’t.
Its larva eats bee larva, so its larvae are pesky parasites.
Dammit. That is so not cool.
No Disney version when it comes to Bee Fly larva.
No. Just a sneaky criminal dressed up to trick us!
The Bee Fly is pretty and benign as an adult. All larvae are nasty characters. Like the Alien, they feed on their hosts until they burst out of their bellies. It’s a larva eat larva eat insect world in the environs of entomology.
Very interesting looking creature – never seen one of those before. Looked it up and apparently we have them here hmmm.
We will start setting up the week of the 19th. Right now we are in non stop production build of new props for this year’s haunt. Brother coming down tomorrow to help. Pretty much have both my 3D printers going 24×7, soldering circuits from sunup to sundown and then putting the products through stress tests to make sure they make it through whatever weather the night has in store without stopping, burning up, exploding or worse. Last year it absolutely poured the entire day and night for one of the three days of the event – very stressful, but after we figured out a couple of blown GFIs all was good. Won’t have a lot of time for my own posts until after the event – thankfully got through a lot of them last weekend during the dog show.
I’m impressed with your dedication. Two 3D printers is impressive also. They are cool, but not something I’ve cared to get into.
Absolutely essential to have them in this hobby, but can be daunting to get into if you are new to the concepts – spent my years of higher learning and as a result a large part of my IT career in solid modeling (3D representation) of our yellow babies making the haunt modeling a whole lot easier ha. Brother is a math, EE, nuclear physicist whiz and always willing to come down and help me out when I get stuck (especially when I’m concerned about something blowing up – these LiPo batteries are a bit sketchy. When I need help on the structural or linkages side I can lean on my other brother who is a ME and hydraulics specialist (also retired from the yellow family).
We can call you Mellow Yellow. That’s a lot of brain power and skill going into your haunt. That’s a lot better and more rewording than sitting around watching reruns.
That fat contrail looks like a genie coming out of a bottle! Beautiful sunflowers and bee fly. I could see that as a three panel set. They are gorgeous!
The fat chemtrail/contrail is similar to the trail left by a missile launch. Since you’re not far from the missile range, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a missile launch. Target could be somewhere in the Nellis bomb range or further out into the Pacific.
The yellow color of the sunflowers are so intense…absolutely beautiful. And that is some contrail; I’ve never seen one that wide. AND you’ve introduced me to an insect I’ve never heard of before—a bee fly…quite a handsome fellow.
Off Center & Not Even 
Vibrant yellow! 🌻 💛
Indeed. Thanks, Michele.
That fat chem trail is nuts!
And, of course, the sunflowers and bees are delightful.
I’ve never seen a chem trial like that before. It was really out there. That was the first time I had seen a black-tailed bee fly, also. Thanks, Dale.
It’s wild!
And I can’t say I’ve ever seen a black-tailed bee fly either. Gorgeous little creature.
It bees like a bee to fake you out to think it will sting you when it’s harmless.
Wonder if they pollinate like bees.
I wish I had filmed one once. I swear it sounded like a baby who MMM MMM MMMs when he loves whatever he’s eating. It was so cool.
They do buzz there MMMs like they are loving that pollen. The Bee Fly doesn’t have pollen sacks, so it’s not a pollinator.
I just love that sound. And bummer the bee fly doesn’t.
Its larva eats bee larva, so its larvae are pesky parasites.
Dammit. That is so not cool.
No Disney version when it comes to Bee Fly larva.
No. Just a sneaky criminal dressed up to trick us!
The Bee Fly is pretty and benign as an adult. All larvae are nasty characters. Like the Alien, they feed on their hosts until they burst out of their bellies. It’s a larva eat larva eat insect world in the environs of entomology.
Very interesting looking creature – never seen one of those before. Looked it up and apparently we have them here hmmm.
You’ll have to be on the look out for them. That’s the first one I’ve seen. Thanks, Brian. How’s you prop building going? Or are you setting them up?
We will start setting up the week of the 19th. Right now we are in non stop production build of new props for this year’s haunt. Brother coming down tomorrow to help. Pretty much have both my 3D printers going 24×7, soldering circuits from sunup to sundown and then putting the products through stress tests to make sure they make it through whatever weather the night has in store without stopping, burning up, exploding or worse. Last year it absolutely poured the entire day and night for one of the three days of the event – very stressful, but after we figured out a couple of blown GFIs all was good. Won’t have a lot of time for my own posts until after the event – thankfully got through a lot of them last weekend during the dog show.
I’m impressed with your dedication. Two 3D printers is impressive also. They are cool, but not something I’ve cared to get into.
Absolutely essential to have them in this hobby, but can be daunting to get into if you are new to the concepts – spent my years of higher learning and as a result a large part of my IT career in solid modeling (3D representation) of our yellow babies making the haunt modeling a whole lot easier ha. Brother is a math, EE, nuclear physicist whiz and always willing to come down and help me out when I get stuck (especially when I’m concerned about something blowing up – these LiPo batteries are a bit sketchy. When I need help on the structural or linkages side I can lean on my other brother who is a ME and hydraulics specialist (also retired from the yellow family).
We can call you Mellow Yellow. That’s a lot of brain power and skill going into your haunt. That’s a lot better and more rewording than sitting around watching reruns.
awwww such beautiful friends Timothy!!💖💖
Thanks, Cindy.
welcome
Oh, look, there’s a crack in the sky!
What a blissfull golden bonus: inviting sunflower and busy bee! 🙏
Thanks, Marina. I like the image of a broken sky. There is lots of gold to be had in them there sunflowers.
Oh, yes there is! 🌻🌟
Ah….more…. YES!
Thanks, Shey.
I like this plushy “teddy-bear-version” of a fly.
It is a bit teddy bear like. Thanks, Heidi.
Never seen a trail like that, nor have I been aware of the bee fly. A great learning event! Thanks, Timothy.
Thanks, Maj & Sher.
Wow ! The first pic is like the stroke of paint in the sky !! Beautiful ❤️
Thanks, snowflake. It was really a pleasant surprise when I walked out of the house. Our painter going minimalist on us.
Cool fat trail and the fuzzy wuzzy bee! Yippee!
Thanks, Nancy.
Lovely macros of the sunflower. I almost missed the bee, he’s so well camouflaged.
Thanks, Lizzie.
Good one, Tim 😉
Awesome, vibrant pictures!
Thanks, Kelsie.
Anytime 🙂
Wonderful pictures Timothy!
Thanks, Gabriela.
My pleasure.
That fat contrail looks like a genie coming out of a bottle! Beautiful sunflowers and bee fly. I could see that as a three panel set. They are gorgeous!
I Dream of Genie. It would make a good 3 panel set. Thanks, Lavina.
Barbara Eden was a great genie. 🙂
She was.
This is awesome, such a wonderful closeup!
Thanks, Holly.
My pleasure as always
The fat chemtrail/contrail is similar to the trail left by a missile launch. Since you’re not far from the missile range, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a missile launch. Target could be somewhere in the Nellis bomb range or further out into the Pacific.
There are no proving grounds east of us that I know of. The missile range is 200 miles south. But it was certainly not a normal looking contrail.
I love sunflowers, what beautiful pictures and what a beautiful bee that blends right into the sunflower. xoxoxo Joni
Thanks, Joni.
Splendid colors, Tim. All beautifully done. Hugs on the wing.
Thanks, Teagan.
The yellow color of the sunflowers are so intense…absolutely beautiful. And that is some contrail; I’ve never seen one that wide. AND you’ve introduced me to an insect I’ve never heard of before—a bee fly…quite a handsome fellow.
The Bee Fly is a pretty one. It was a weird contrail. Thanks, KY
My pleasure! Your photos are always amazing.
Stunning bee flowers. And what an insane sky!
Thanks, Mariam.
Strange looking cloud.
Weird but fun. Thanks, YellowCable.
Oh, a bee as golden as a sunflower! Both gorgeous.
Thanks, Imelda.
The bee shots are wonderful!
What the heck is “Fat chem trail”?
Same as a fat contrail. Left by jets. Thanks, Resa.
Ohh!!
Now that bee fly has a very special diet! How divine are sunflowers! Do you sow them Tim, or do they come up on their own?
These all came up on there own. We have planted fancy sunflowers in the past, but not in many years. Thanks, Julie.