Collecting pollen all day in the Arizona summer sun is hard work. Fortunately, bees have found an interesting way of staying cool—as photographer Joe Neely found out.
Recently, Neely poised himself before a bubbling water display with his Nikon and macro lens, hoping to snap birds and bees. It was the perfect watering hole for a handful of thirsty bees, which buzzed up to dip their toes, wet their whistles, and beat the summer heat. Neely noticed that they were perched side-by-side, looking somewhat comically like a few buddies out on the town, sitting at a bar.
He caught the funny ensemble on camera.
The caption that read: “Three bees came to have a drink. It looks like one bee told a really good joke and the other is falling off his chair laughing. Look at that little bee leg up in the air! ?❤”
Another post shows a bee apparently at a table or bar, captioned: “I said ‘Come bee, pull up a chair and stay a while...’ and so he did... he looked at me as if to ask what was on tap, but we are only serving water today. No buzzed bees in this establishment. ??”
Neely’s followers loved it. And the photos garnered over 2,000 views—with comments like “Ahahahaha. Love the photo too. Were they getting a drink?” and “cocktail.....please! ??”
In his exploits, Neely has learned some interesting facts about bees, including how they keep cool.
“I learned is that bees collect not only pollen but also water, during the hot days. They take this water back to the hive and when they disperse it; they also beat their wings really fast to cool the hive,” he told The Epoch Times.
“Imagine hundreds of bees doing this at once. This works the same way an evaporative cooler works in your house. So be sure to place a small dish of water out for the bees on hot days, and put a rock in it so there’s a place for them to safely land.”
Nor was this Neely’s first encounter with unusual bee-havior.
Those pictures also went viral.
Neely has been photographing since 2012 when he first bought a simple point-and-shoot for taking on nature hikes. Since then, his hobby snowballed, and he amassed gear “for every possible situation, from weddings to astrophotography.”
“But wildlife will always be my number one passion,” he added.
