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| queen bee |
Although I didn't realise at the time, this morning I was presented with a timely opportunity to tick off one of my challenges for the year.
Whilst enjoying a fairly lazy Sunday morning, I was pottering about the house, when I came across a large bumblebee on the kitchen floor. A queen Buff-tailed Bumblebee (bombus terrestris), she appeared to be somewhat distressed - any approach towards her was met with arms raised defensively, and I strongly sensed that she felt vulnerable.
She was indeed vulnerable, being on the floor in the doorway, liable to be trodden on by human, dog or cat at any moment...
Many years ago (so long that I can no longer remember by whom), I was told that when you find a bee on the floor, apparently unwilling or unable to fly, it often means, simply, that the bee has run out of fuel. It has spent too much time harvesting pollen, searching for a mate, or getting up to whatever else bumblebees get up to, and it's misjudged either the amount of energy it's used, or the availability of opportunities for replenishment...often, they've just found a way into a house, and run out of energy trying to find a way back out.
With no fuel, the bee can't fly, and will soon die.
What the bumblebee really needs in this situation is sugar...and this is easy to supply!
Honey is perfect, of course, but if you don't have honey, then golden syrup is equally good...failing that, a simple mix of sugar and water works fine too. All you need to do is put whatever bee-fuel you have on a spoon, and place it in front of the bee...the bee will gratefully help itself, once it realises what you are offering!
After 10 or 15 minutes, the bee will have recovered enough to fly, and will be up and off to resume its life.
Bees are critical to human survival, as I'm sure you're aware. Without bees, we can't pollinate the crops that feed us...and bee populations are currently collapsing under the onslaught of chemical pesticides and whatnot that are used so extensively nowadays.
The ongoing survival of the human species is arguably a fairly low priority for the majority of life on Earth...it seems self-evident that virtually every other species would be better off without us...but on balance, it feels better to save the bees, for the sake of other species, as well as the bees themselves...
...and my conscience tells me it's the right thing to do.
Thus, upon first understanding the plight of stranded bees, maybe more than 20 years ago, I established the International Bee Rescue Service, as we call it around our way, and we've been saving bees like this ever since.
On warm spring and summer days, the familiar rallying cry of "International Bee Rescue!" can often be heard around these parts, prompting those present to initiate the appropriate response protocols...hence, when I found the Queen bee this morning, I didn't have to think twice what to do...
Leaping into action, I immediately set up a protective perimeter around the bee (yep, 24 is back on again!), and called for assistance. I gently picked up the bumblebee on a failed delivery card, and took it outside, whilst Anna prepared the bee-fuel, in this case, sugar water.
Here you can clearly see the bee's proboscis as she enthusiastically slurps up the sugary juice:
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| spoon fed |
Sure enough, after fifteen minutes the bee was rejuvenated and went on her way...
During those minutes, as we were waiting to see whether she'd successfully revive, I remembered that one of my challenges for the year is to Rescue an Animal...
And as Anna pointed out, this is a queen bee, so we actually saved the whole colony.
Mission Accomplished...and Challenge Completed!!
PS Correction to yesterdays post...the bees I photographed on the cotoneaster were not White-tailed Bumblebees, but were in fact Tree Bumblebees (bombus hypnorum)...
Sorry 'bout that (Anna's fault, obviously, she's the professional ecologist around here...).
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