Give and Take....

...in the circle of life; the bee and the flower. Macro.
(Click picture for larger view)

"Give and Take...
For to the bee a flower is a fountain of life
And to the flower a bee is a messenger of love
And to both, bee and flower,
the giving and the receiving is a need and an ecstasy.
~ Kahlil Gibran

I went through this year's catalog of pictures looking for my "Best Macro of 2006" and came up with sixteen that really spoke to me. Nyssa helped me weed it down to twelve pictures and after some time away from the computer to make another loaf of potica bread (I think that puts the total up to twelve this year), I returned and narrowed the field down to four; then down to one. This picture was one of six hundred I took at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden this summer; yes, I went overboard but everything was so beautiful! I don't know what this small flower's scientific name is or its common name for that matter. The bee was very small, about the size of what we called a "sweat bee" when I was a child.
He was in the process of delivering his load of pollen and drinking in the flower's offer of sweet nectar. The bee was still for only a moment; in one shot he was there and in the next, vanished. I loved the bold markings on the small bee and the sunny center of the flower with those tiny white petals.

Submission for MacroDay topic "Best of 2006". (end of post)