Glojo, I too was not disagreeing with you. In fact I agree the hives (as shown here) are not adding anything. Although, with great care to composition it might be done in a way that adds context. I was just suggesting isolating fewer bees; all the concepts of composition still apply.

Hi Tayco. All good advice here. Since you asked about focus I zoomed in to see where it was. (it was on one of the nearer bees but that's not important) All of the bees suffered from motion blur. I think I get what you are trying to capture: several bees at "work". To do that you are going to have to get in close (as others have said) and use a small aperture to get them all in focus. And prefocus manually.

I cropped you photo at about 200x trying to show a balance between too wide while getting "close".

Usually, flash doesn't bother wildlife but doing so repeatedly on bees -- I don't know. You might consider setting up lights (strong LEDs maybe) and a tripod for your camera.

Good luck

Hi Tayco,
You are specifically asking about taking pictures of bees in flight so here is my two penarth...

First off..

1. Get away from that bee hive..

Why on earth are you so close to it? It certainly will never add to the back drop, even if it is out of focus

2. Get closer, get MUCH closer, then get closer again :)

The closer you get the better but get away from the hive.

Do not worry about flash upsetting individual bees and note my wording.. I have used flash to take close up pictures of a wasp nest and not got stung, but have NEVER been near a bee hive so have NO knowledge of how a lot of bees would react

Shutter speeds
You pays your money and take your choices, 1/4000th or this hand held shot is at 1/60th of a second.

I am someone that is more of a snapper than a photographer and this image was shot with me laying on the ground supporting myself and the camera with one arm whilst working the controls with the other.. I can only see a tripod as being a hindrance for this type of shot but if you are happy using a tripod, then 'what ever works for you'

I love capturing bees in flight but to me I like the backdrop of a flower

Apologies for posting an image on your thread but you are being given lots of advice and I thought I would use a picture to support my words.. Capturing a bee on a flower is one thing, getting a shot of them in flight, in focus, is for me a whole new ball game and I wish you all the luck but you need to get closer and I don't know about using a long lens, I certainly do not see the harm in using one, but this image is taken with a 105mm lens.

Hand held
1/60th second

Well I worked for a farmer way back.. And he had hives. I was using film at the time so I did not take many shots. But I did use a flash. I just did not take a lot of shots in a row. Put your flash out there and see if it bothers them. I don't think it will. Right now I am trying to get some shots of a Yellow Jacket nest under my porch. It is a big one with tons of them. I have been out there with a flash and they don't seem to mind. And they get mad real fast. And again I take a shot and wait, then take another. I have to lay down to get a shot of their hole and they have walked on my arm a few times. :) Hard not get up and run or smack them. But that is what sets them off. Just be relaxed around them and don't move fast.
Erv