Bee needlepoint patterns

Bees in seven designs: five seen from above with their wings out at each side, a bumblebee seen from the side on a clover flower and a bee on a peony.

Seen from above, the bee is the same or nearly the same on the left and the right: an oval body in bands at least two stitches wide. It is drawn that way in five styles. Wide bands hold their shape, which helps a first try; work one wing, then repeat it in reverse. The classic bumblebee faces left on top of a round lilac clover flower with green leaves at the foot of its stem: a black and yellow bee with white wings, on a slate blue background dotted with small pale yellow flecks. It is not the same on both sides, so count the bee outward from its yellow bands and take the spacing of the flecks from the chart. All are four inches square on 18 mesh, and most can be made as a round ornament.