素晴らしい pictures of bees show the insects as you've never seen them before - with fluffy 'hair' and stained-glass wings

By Ashley Collman

Published: 21:50 BST, 15 September 2013 | Updated: 21:53 BST, 15 September 2013

These incredibly 詳細（に述べる）d pictures of bees will make you think twice about swatting away the stinger 疫病／悩ますing your late summer picnic.

Sam Droege is the 長，率いる of the U.S. 地質学の 調査する’s Bee 在庫 and 監視するing 研究室／実験室 in Beltsville, Maryland and for the past six or seven years he and his team of about eight people have been photographing bees and other insects.

They are all 解放する／自由な to 見解（をとる） and download on the U.S. 地質学の 調査する’s Flickr page ? something Mr Droege is proud of.

Something to buzz about: The U.S. 地質学の 調査する has been photographing bees for the past six or seven years, 地位，任命するing about 1,200 images to their Flickr

長，率いる 発射: Sam Droege , the 長，率いる of the 調査する's Bee 在庫 and 監視するing 研究室／実験室 作品 with a group of about eight to photograph the bees

A bug's life: Though they mostly 焦点（を合わせる） on photographing bees, the group has also 支店d out to other insects like moths and crickets

解放する／自由な for all: The 調査する have 地位，任命するd the pictures to their Flickr page and 許す anyone to 見解（をとる） them or download them for 解放する／自由な without perm ission

‘We really like the idea that all of these pictures are public domain, anyone can 得る，とらえる them for 解放する／自由な,’ Mr Droege told MailOnline.

‘They don’t 現実に have to せいにする them to us. I think it shows that 政府 税金 dollars are 存在 used wisely.’

But it wasn’t until around 2010 that the 質 of the images got to where they are now.

For years they used simple point and shoot cameras, but then the army 株d their technique for 逮捕（する）ing insects using 大型の photography.

Mr Droege says that the army developed the technique when they were 取引，協定ing with insect infestations and other problems in remote areas.

大型の-photography 許すd them to get a high-質 picture and send it to 専門家s for 身元確認，身分証明.

Money 井戸／弁護士席 spent: Mr Droege likes the idea that the pictures are in the public domain, 解放する／自由な for anyone to use. He thinks it shows that U.S. 税金 dollars are 存在 井戸／弁護士席 spent

What bug is this? The 調査する learned their technique for photographing bees from the army who developed the technique for identifying pests in remote 場所s

Better 科学（工学）技術: Before the army taught them their method for 逮捕（する）ing insects using high-質 cameras, the 調査する used simple point-and-shoot cameras

They passed along their technique to the USGS, and Mr Droege 修正するd it to be done in a lab as …に反対するd to the 動きやすい 始める，決める-up the army developed.

The 大型の photography 許すs you to see every 詳細（に述べる） of the insect up の近くに without needing to use a microscope.

So far, Mr Droege says he has yet to find an insect that looks ugly when it’s blown up. Even cockroaches look beautiful with their shimmering coloring and sculpturing.

現在／一般に the USGS has 地位，任命するd 1,200 pictures of bees and other insects to its Flickr page.

The pictures are taken using a ‘pretty 基準’ Canon? 5D II with a 65mm 大型の レンズ.

Mr Droege says that it takes about two to four hours to 完全にする one picture, from washing and prepping the bee to photoshopping the image.

The bees are placed on a pin against a 黒人／ボイコット 背景 and 発射 mugshot-style, from the 前線 and the 味方する.

Many bees don’t make the 削減（する） because of ‘bad hair’

Not on the move: Mr Droege took the army's method and 修正するd it to be done in a studio instead of on a 動きやすい basis

Collage: To photograph the bees with such 詳細（に述べる）, Mr Droege and his team take several different 発射s of the insect and 連合させる them together to form one image using a special ソフトウェア

Beauty in the 詳細（に述べる）s: Mr Droege says he has yet to come across a bug that doesn't look beautiful when photographed at such a large-規模. Even cockroaches have 利益／興味ing coloring and sculpturing

道具s of the 貿易（する）: The team uses a Canon 5D II with a 大型の レンズ to photograph the bees, a 始める，決める-up which Mr Droege 述べるd as 'pretty 基準'

Several 発射s are taken with the camera and then stacked into one image using a special ソフトウェア which creates the 詳細（に述べる）d 大型の-images. The images can be blown up to five feet by eight feet without pixelating.

They use a 黒人／ボイコット 背景 instead of a はしけ background to let the intricate patterns on the wings show.

The bees looks strikingly life-like? once the pin is edited out. Since insects have no 内部の 骸骨／概要, their exoskeletons harden and don’t change much after death.

Mr Droege says taking pictures of the bees help in identifying the thousands of 種類 of bees across North America. Of the 4,000 種類, there are still 500 that have no 科学の 指名する.

So Mr Droege and his team have been putting together an online catalog of bee 種類 and they have already identified 2,000 different 種類.

But since the photos are up for anyone to use on Flickr, they’ve also been taken for 非，不，無-科学の 目的s.

High-質: The photos are taken at such a microscopic level that they can be blown up to five feet by eight feet without pixelating

Life in death:? The bees look amazingly life-like when photographed since Mr Droege photoshops the pin they stand on out, 同様に as little pieces of dust that show up when photographed with the powerful レンズ

Flight: The team at the USGS uses a 黒人／ボイコット 背景 to photograph the insects since it 許すs the intricate patterns of the wings to be seen

Since they don’t 要求する 許可 to take, Mr Droege says he doesn’t know the 十分な extent of how they are 存在 株d by the laymen, but he has been able to 部分的に／不公平に 跡をつける their どの辺に with 場所／位置 traffic 監視するs.

One day they got a lot of 攻撃する，衝突するs from a graphic de 調印する group that was using one picture of a 巨大（な） cricket hunter as the basis for a 事業／計画（する） on creating monster graphics.

Mr Droege says he likes that people who aren’t their ‘typical audience’ are using the images and says he doesn’t want to be an ‘arbiter’ for how they are used.

One of the most entertaining uses he’s come across recently was a 地位，任命する to the Reddit page ‘WoahDude’ which 述べるs it’s content as ‘the best links to click while you’re 石／投石するd.’

Mr Droege says he got a kick out of all the comments, many 激しい with profanity.?

身元不明の: Taking pictures of the bees helps the 調査する identify the 500 種類 in North America which still 港／避難所't been given a 指名する

Woah dude: One of Mr Droege's favorite uses of the pictures was when someone 地位，任命するd a 始める，決める to a Reddit page 充てるd to 'stoners'

‘Looks like pokemons or some crazy s*** like that. I like it!’ one 使用者 wrote.

‘Damn nature, you scary’ 追加するd another.

One 使用者 wrote that they looked like ‘some insect 罪，犯罪-fighting 仕事 軍隊.’

A few Redditers even started to get curious about what ‘産む／飼育する’ the bees were, which Mr Droege liked to see.

He says that after two days up on Reddit, the picture 始める，決める received 200,000 page 見解（をとる）s which is a number the USGS’s Flickr page didn’t reach until over 1,000 pictures were up.

Mr Droege and his team continues to photograph bees daily, and it’s something he enjoys so much that he continues to photoshop even on his days off.

‘I have the best 職業 in the world and I get to look at these things all the time. I am 完全に 栄誉（を受ける）d to be doing this for the public,’ he said