Normally when a bumble bee is flying, its tongue, protected by a horny sheath, is folded under its head and body. Certainly, the tongue is extended when the bee is sipping nectar from a flower, but leaving it extended during flight would increase aerodynamic drag.
Yet, now and then, one sees a bumble bee flying with its tongue dangling—probably on jaunts between adjacent flowers.
A Bombus vagans has already extended its tongue as it approaches a clover flower. Most of the tongue is covered by a sheath, but a drop of nectar hangs from the tip of the tongue protruding from the bottom.
Great timing..
Travis, human reaction time is far to long for one to see such a thing and then take the picture. This is the product of repeated attempts to take anticipatory pictures.