Tuesday, April 13, 2010

A Bee's Story

I will admit it. I'm a nature nerd. I involve myself in the lives of other beings. I move earthworms aside when I'm digging so I don't chop them up, and rescue insects that are drowning in containers of water. I apologize to things I inadvertently hurt. So, when I saw this struggling bumble bee, I had to intervene.

I noticed that she (I'm not sure why I knew she was a she-bee) was staggering around my flower bed, seemed disoriented, and couldn't fly. It was hot out in the sun, and that probably wasn't helping her.

Eventually, she climbed up on my marguerite daisies and poked around the centers, but she didn't seem to get any satisfaction--she also seemed a bit frantic.
So, I developed the idea that perhaps these were the wrong flowers for her. I picked an azalea and laid it in front of her. She climbed inside and drank the nectar greedily.
I didn't know how to tell her that the azaleas were elsewhere, so I used the plucked azalea flower to lure her into a flowerpot and transported her over to an azalea shrub.
It worked. She climbed deeply into each flower and sipped nectar. Some of the flowers must have already been emptied, so some she spent a few seconds in, and others a few minutes.
In return, she gave me some beautiful photo-opportunities, and I greedily snapped away while she nourished herself.

I'm just now getting around to replacing my previous azaleas, so the shrub is tiny. She'd soon visited each and every flower.
Again, I trapped her into the flower pot and tried to find more suitable flowers for her. At this point, though, she'd had about enough of me. She climbed up a tall pine tree and disappeared. I'm sure she'll be fine now.

12 comments:

Ami said...

Deborah: I was smiling when reading your post! Bless your good heart! That she-bee looked very satisfied after sipping all those nectar.

Deborah Verhoeven said...

She did look satisfied. I'm sure she was saying to me, "Thanks, Big Being, but you're starting to freak me out now."

Amy said...

Deborah ~ You are a very kind person. Also, you are very observant to figure that all out, too. Enjoyed your post and your kindness! :)

Mya said...

Yea, Deborah. You win the honored 'Humanibee Award'.
Great story, great shots.

Anne Fannie said...

Oh Deborah, you are so sweet and kind to that little bee! I would have done the same thing!
We found a huge beehive in the walls of one of our rental houses,(100 lbs of honey) I looked around till I found a company that will not kill the bees, I finally found one and they came and ripped my walls apart to carefully take the whole beehive and queen bee and vacuum up all the other bees and moved them to a another home with a beekeeper. I felt better that I didn't have the bees killed, but my checkbook didn't....lol
Ann

Floridagirl said...

You do have a good heart, Deborah, and a great deal of courage! What a fun story!

Deborah Verhoeven said...

Thanks, guys

Annie, I would have done the same thing

Vetsy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Vetsy said...

Deborah, Love the vivid colors! Very pretty!... I enjoyed the story of you Bee-friending and helping out your little visitor how cute!

Becca's Dirt said...

Neat tale of the bumble bee. How nice that you were able to take the bee in the right direction. Great photos too. I also try not to hurt nature. I've had the same bees hanging around my front and back doors a lot. The azaleas are nearby too - just hoping they don't try to make home at my doors.

By the way - great call on the daily dose of local honey for allergies. I had heard the same years ago and forgot. So I will making a purchase of local honey just as soon as I can spare $10.
Have a great weekend.

Deborah Verhoeven said...

Yes, Vetsy, azaleas do have vivid colors. It's good to make friends with bees--they somehow remember.

Becca, I wonder if the bees hanging around your doors are carpenter bees. Watch for "pencil shavings", and you'll know for sure.

Enjoy the relief from your daily dose of honey. We're lucky to have a guy that sells local honey on Hwy 98, so we don't have to go far to find it.

Sue Catmint said...

Hi Deborah, I love that you're a nature nerd - I am too. It's nice how you helped that poor intellectually challenged bee. I worry it will starve when left to its own (not very hopeful) devices. Cheers, catmint