First aid
Cross stitch waiting to be started
I wasn’t
expecting to use the bee remedy I mentioned in yesterday’s post so soon, if at
all, but this morning, Barry found a bee on the conservatory floor. He picked her
up and took her outside away from curious cats and dogs.
I mixed a
sugar water solution and fed it to the bee, which was very sluggish and
disorientated. After several minutes I picked her up on a stem of herb robert (Geranium
robertianum, wild geranium) and put her on a ceanothus flower. She is
breathing and moving around, but not making any effort to fly, and it is now
several hours since she was first found. It is also rather cool and breezy, not
the best conditions for a weakly bee, so I don’t really hold out much hope for
her, but at least she’s got a full tummy.I don’t
know what species of bee she is; all I do know is that she is not a honey bee. She
is such a little creature, so fragile, so important.Another cross stitch waiting to be started
Thank you for rendering first aid. Maybe she just needs to rest until the sun comes out and warms her.
ReplyDeleteThat was my hope. This morning she's not around.
DeleteTo bee or not to bee - that is the question.
ReplyDelete'The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune' - very fitting.
DeleteAwwww, little thing. Thank you for caring!
ReplyDelete😊
DeleteYou tried. Good for you. 👍
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteThank you.
ReplyDeleteShe's not around this morning, so perhaps she revived.
DeleteAre you becoming the Bee Whisperer??
ReplyDeleteShould I? Could I?
DeleteShe (he, it?) looks like what we here on the other side of the pond call a bumble bee. Aerodynamically speaking, they should not be able to fly as their body mass is so out of proportion to their wingspan.
ReplyDeleteIt is a small bumble bee.
DeleteI hope the bee has recovered. I'm glad you tried to help. It certainly looks like a bumblebee.
ReplyDeleteShe's not around this morning , in the sun, so hopefully she revived.
DeleteI have read that bees generally go to ground when it is their time to die. I am glad you took her outside though.
ReplyDeleteHoney bees can live for a year, but bumble bees only survive a matter of months. Such a short, busy span.
DeleteEven if her wings don't lift her skyward again, your kindness gave her warmth, safety, and a final meal—a quiet act of compassion that matters deeply.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteWell done! My friend rescued a bee which was trapped inside a peony; the petals had closed when the rain came!
ReplyDeleteThat is astonishing - how observant of your friend.
DeleteBravo! Here's hoping the bee finds it's strength and flies, away
ReplyDeleteI'll never know!
DeleteThey are so important to the whole balance of the world.
ReplyDeleteIndeed they are.
DeleteHi Janice - that's great to read ... as you say though it's still cold(ish) at the moment. Love the cross stitch options - cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteIt remains to be seen if I ever get around to doing the cross stitch!
DeletePoor wee bumblebee. Not an early queen then awake from winter and looking for a place for her new colony?
ReplyDeleteI don't think she was big enough to be a queen, and was such a little bee.
DeleteGet well soon little bee x
ReplyDelete🐝
DeleteThere are simply so many kinds of bees aren't there. And everyone serves a great purpose. And all we humans can do when we can and try to help.
ReplyDeleteIdentifying bees is quite a task, it's true.
DeleteWhat a kind thing for you to do.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteIt is so sad when this happens. I found one on the patio recently and tried the sugar and water method, sadly it didn't recover.
ReplyDeleteTheir lifespan is really short - such a shame.
DeleteIf you lived in the United States I would call your bee a bumble bee. I hope yours recovered. A lovely act of kindness, either way.
ReplyDeleteI think she is a small bumble bee, but what sort I couldn't say.
DeleteIt is a kind thing you did. I am looking after Indian Mynah birds by squirting them with water from an atomiser when they are nearby. This will protect them from a grumpy old man when spring arrives and they want to nest on the balcony below.
ReplyDeleteThat's really kind of you o save them the effort of moving home later on. I wanted to have a mynah bird, once. I don't know now why I didn't have one.
DeleteWhat a wonderfully touching story! I never heard of giving first aid to a bee... You are so kind. Hope that the bee ended up surviving!
ReplyDeleteShe's not in evidence today, so perhaps she did survive. 😊
DeleteI am going to say that she did. That makes me feel better.
DeleteSweet story. I hope she made it.
ReplyDelete🐝
DeleteWell done for administering this very important first aid.
ReplyDeleteHopefully once it had warmed up a little the bee felt strong enough to fly on.
All the best Jan
Hopefully!
DeleteIsn't it terrific that we humans can be so inspired by something so small?
ReplyDeleteIt is quite humbling.🐝
DeleteYou did your best, and now it's up to nature. Keeping my fingers crossed that she made it! xxx
ReplyDelete🤞
ReplyDeleteThank you for showing first aid kindness to this bee. I hope she managed to survive.
ReplyDeleteI hope so, too. We need all our bees.
Delete