Ophrys apifera, bee orchidWatercolour by Arthur Harry Church, 17 June 1913
Megachile pluto, Wallaces giant bee
Hymenoptera specimensA case containing various Hymenoptera (ants, bees, wasps and their allies) specimens, held at the Natural History Museum, London
Apis mellifera, European honey beePhotograph of a European honey bee (Apis mellifera) in the wildlife garden. A typical small hive contains about 20, 000 bees which are divided into three types; Queen, Drones, and Workers
Bombus pascorum, common carder beeA female Bombus pascorum, common carder bee visiting a plant in the wildlife garden
Two birds on title page, waiting for crumbsHeart-shaped enamel on metal badge made by Ernestine Mills (1871-1959), possibly for the W.S.P.Us Womens Exhibition of 1909
Hyperechia nigripennis, robber flyA robber fly, an African predatory fly with a carpenter bee (Xylocopa) that it mimics. Specimens held at the Natural History Museum, London
Collection of mixed dead birdsPlate 65, painting by Pieter Cornelius de Bevere, from the Loten Collection of coloured drawings of Birds, Mammals, Insects & Plants, (1754-57)
Copal with honey beeA piece of East African copal with a honey bee, Apis mellifera preserved inside it. Specimen is less than 2 million years old
Orchid bee in copalOrchid bee in Colombian copal (a younger stage of amber). Probabaly less than 2 million years old. Donated by Miguel Caycedo
Merops apiaster, European bee-eaterPlate 144 from William MacGillivrays Watercolour drawings of British Animals (1831-1841)
Drawings 43-46 from the Watling Collection43. A native fishing. 44. Comoo bee ornamented after a burial. 45. Ablaroo, a moobee after Balloderreeo funeral. 46. native of New South Wales
The Honey Bees Nest in an ant hillAt the Seba que River October 1870. Sketch 53 from a collection of original sketches by Thomas Baines, (1859-1871)
Honeycomb of Apis sp. honeybeeA close-up of the structure of a the honeycomb made by a colony of honeybees
Anthophorites titania, fossil beeA well preserved specimen of the body of a bee. Legs and abdomen can clearly be seen
Merops leschenaulti, chestnut-headed bee-eaterPlate 33, watercolour by Margaret Bushby Lascelles Cockburn from her Neilgherry birds and Miscellaneous, (1858)
Collection of birds feathersPlate 25 from Neilgherry birds and Miscellaneous (1858) by Margaret Bushby Lascelles Cockburn (1829-1928)
Wild honey combPlate 42 from Neilgherry birds and Miscellaneous (1858) by Margaret Bushby Lascelles Cockburn (1829-1928)
Bee in Dominican amberA bee, Hymenoptera: Aculeata: Apidae trapped in Dominican amber. This specimen was used to attempt DNA extraction
Bombus sp. bumble beeSide-view mid-flight photograph of a bumble bee, photograph taken in the U.K
Bombyliidae specimensBee-flies from around the world, clockwise from top left: Systropus, Bombylius, Cephalopdromia and Ligyra. Adults are flower feeders, the larvae are parasitoids of other insects
Bombus hypnorum, bumblebeeA bumblebee perched on Lythrum salicaria, purple loosetrife, in the Natural History Museums Wildlife Garden
Pollen on beeScanning electron microscope (SEM) image of pollen on a bee. If the plant depends on animals for pollination, the pollen will be relatively large and sticky
Varroa jacobsoni, honey bee mite
Apis mellifera, honey beeScanning electron microscope image of a honey bee coloured artificially by computer. The female worker caste of this species have special baskets on their legs to to take pollen back to the nest
Honeybee visiting a flowerA working honeybee visiting a flower and collecting pollen
Apis sp. honeybee visiting a flowerA honeybee collecting nectar and pollen whilst visiting a garden flower
Bombus sp. bumblebee visiting a flowerA bumblebee visiting an attractive garden flower, collecting nectar and adding pollen to the pollen sac shown here on its hind leg
Odontoglossum alexandrea, orchidIllustration by Arthur Harry Church, 1907. Held in the Botany Library at the Natural History Museum, London
Merops albicollis, white-throated bee-eaterWatercolour by Chloe Elizabeth Talbot Kelly (1960)
