Bombus bifarius, back, f, Mariposa CA

There are a lot of bumble bee species out there, about 50 species or so north of Mexico. Some arguments regarding species boundaries, but, bottomline is there are more than most people would suppose. Here is Bombus bifarius. Another common western bee, one a bit more likely to nest above ground than some of the others....sometimes even showing up in bird houses. This one was found in Yosemite National Park as part of Claire Kremen's studies of the many bees that call the National Park home. Photography Information: Canon Mark II 5D, Zerene Stacker, Stackshot Sled, 65mm Canon MP-E 1-5X macro lens, Twin Macro Flash in Styrofoam Cooler, F5.0, ISO 100, Shutter Speed 200 USGSBIML Photoshopping Technique: Note that we now have added using the burn tool at 50% opacity set to shadows to clean up the halos that bleed into the black background from "hot" color sections of the picture.