Sometimes bees can be a bit dim - rather like us. This poor girl was exhausted, but she would not drink sugar syrup from a saucer as the other bee did. It was an overcast evening a couple of weeks ago and most flowers were closing down for the night. I popped her on a little geranium where she flopped feebly about, poking her proboscis into the stamens which weren't giving her what she wanted. Finally she seemed to give up and folded her legs under her, as if waiting to die.
Feeling desperate, I brushed some syrup onto the flower she was perched on and gently nudged it towards her...
In protest, she waved her legs about and then began to clean some of the syrup from her feet. The penny dropped and she began eagerly licking the syrup from the petals before taking off. As if this was not enough, while I was filming, there was a knock at the door, which I ignored. You can just about hear it at the end and the chimney jackdaws cackling with indignation. And if you listen very carefully with the volume up you can just hear the nice Mozart I was playing.
The knock at the door was a dear friend and her daughter, popping over from another village to say hello. One of the few people I am always happy to see, even if the cottage did look as if a bomb had hit it. My fellow bee loving friend has recently acquired her first hive, so it was a lovely coincidence that she dropped in at that very moment, just as excited as I was at another bee-life saved. We hurried through to the back yard, where the 'patient' was nuzzling around in the thyme blossom and then watched as she bumbled off, over the fence, hopefully to return home.
Another sweet surprise - one of Andy's young work colleagues has also started keeping bees - and spun his first batch of honey last week. It took him longer than he imagined as he had a bumper crop. He started at 8pm and didn't get to bed until 4am - how kind he was to pass on a jar to me; it is quite delicious and if he's not careful I will be sending him a bottle or three of my homebrew...poor lad won't know what day of the week it is.
20 comments:
Ok Gretel...you asked for it....You better BEE careful or you will BEE known as St. Gretel of Abeesi...patron saint of Bees! Lovely video and I loved how the music became more pronounced as your little friend got became revived. Another great post..hope you are well and not working too hard.
your friend,
Janet
xox
Wonderful stuff - glad you persevered, perhaps she was feeling a bit lightheaded. Now I am practising my bumblebee naming skills and I am pretty certain that this is a buff-tailed bumblebee, but cannot BEE 100% cerain.
BEEaten to the puns! Never mind, keep up the sterling work Gretel. I'm sure there is an expression about 'Those who do good deeds without thought of recompense will surely end up reaping the rewards' or such like - as happened with the gift of honey. Someone, somewhere is watching and smiling.
Cheers.
So lovely to see you saving another bee Gretel :)
The stout on the previous post looks wicked ;) x
What a wonderful video! Couldn't believe how loud Madam Bee buzzed when she flew!
OMG...did I really say 'got became' !!!!!!! Need to proof read my comments ;-)
I love the video. Thanks for taking the time to make and post. Carla
Gretel, wouldn't it be something if the bees had some sort of network and started sending their comrades over to your garden.
I think that your wise and tender, loving care would rate four, oh let's say five stars.
Bravo.
The video is wonderful.
xo
You seem to have a magic touch with the bees and they seem to trust you in return. I confess to being jumpy around them - "you stay over there and I'll stay over here" is my comfort zone, and admiring their black and gold plush from a respectful distance.
Maybe a dose of that good stout would help!
Beautiful video.
Hey Gretel,sweet video. I love bumble bees, we don't have them here, but they look so cute in their furry/fuzziness!!
Love the birdsong in the background.
What an exquisite video. Your friend would probably love the homebrew as much as you love his honey!
Thank you for taking such good care of the bees in your part of the world.
I think if you want a change of career you could take over from David Attenborough!! The quality of your video is super!!
good for you Gretel and how wonderful that your young friend has had such success.
Oh, I would gladly trade for a bottle of your homebrew :) Is that another line of business you might try?
Well done for saving another little bee, they can be so silly sometimes, poor wee souls!
Oh, you live in a heavenly place, Gretel! I watched the video more than once for the birds' songs... You are such a caring bee saviour!
I like bumble bees :) We had one in the kitchen the other night and couldn't catch it to get it outside so hubby switched off the light to get it to settle. There was a decided thump. It just stopped flying in mid air and dropped to the floor when the light went.
It wasn't harmed and we put it on the plants under the veranda for the night.
I certainly didn't think that would happen though!
viv in nz
That's what I feel like when I have a hypoglycemic moment , a large dried fig and I'm ready to buzz as well !
That's a great video. The bees arrive in my garden every morning at ten! All my plants are for attracting butterflies and bees. This year there are hundreds of them.I watch them for hours.
That's a great little film, so very clear and I love the gentle background noises, almost ethereal. I love it when special synchronicities (right spelling?) happen, like the coincidence of your friend visiting at that moment. xx
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