Tired bee's

Well I arrived home today to find a big bumble bee on my path.

My son said " I think it's dying, I remembered on Facebook they said feed tired bees a teaspoon of sugar dissolved in water. Never done this before, I am a bit scared of bees to be honest. Well I thought lets give this bee a fighting chance to get home.

My son stood guard watching the bee while I got the sugar solution. I bent down and put a teaspoon of this sugar solution in front of the bee and I could see it taking the solution, At this point I saw something I had not expected, This big fluffy bumble bee had a small bee on its back. I have never seen this before so was a bit shocked. That bee was a lot smaller and not hairy. It was placed on the back in such a way it was camouflaged. Well after a few minutes the big bumble bee seamed to recovered its energy and flew away complete with small bee on its back.

I also found one in the bathroom almost lifeless, in this case I got a glass and some paper scooped it up and took it outside. it hardly moved after 5 minutes so got sugar solution and let that bee drink. Well again it seamed to recover and flew away.

I don't know if the sugar and water really helps the bees but it was nice to feel like I was helping the bee's survive. I am thankful to Facebook for that tip.

If anyone knows a better way to help them let me know I am open to suggestion's.
Sorry no photo's I did not have my phone or camera with me.

Thank you Marie x

 

Really interesting post

@Spruce may have some ideas for you

 

Aww bless you for doing that. And, thanks to this post, I now know what to do if I see tired bummbles in my home/garden.

 

@Marie,I had the same thing last year a small bee on the back of a big bee in our dining room and they were going mad to get outside and was going up and down the window frames and I took photos of them and then did some research and I read that the large bee(mine was very large)is a queen bee and the smaller one is a male bee so he latches on to the female so that they can mate to keep their population going.It is the first time in my life I have ever witnessed such a thing

When I find those bees on the ground I try to firstly warm them up because they usually get cold when we have rain and they get caught out whilst trying to feed.This is one reason they seem to be asleep hanging on to flowers because they have got so cold they haven't got enough energy to fly back to the nest.I also do the sugar treatment and for Queen wasps I find in the spring I usually put a small amount of honey on the end of a teaspoon which they lap up and then the wings start flapping so then is the time to let them go as I don't fancy getting stung

On another note,when I was in my garden the other day I happened to glance down at my Red Campion plants and noticed they were full of what I thought was black fly clustered on the stems but on closer inspection noticed they were tiny beetles.I though they were alive but when I scrapped some off with my finger each one was dead or dying so I don't know whether the cold rain we have had recently has killed them off or whether Red Campion sap has something in it which naturally kills off sap sucking insects Shame though that the birds are not interested in them as there are so many they would make a tasty meal

 

What a lovely story to start the day I shall remember the sugar and water method should I come across the same situation not sure about wasps though as I was stung all over by a swarm of them when I was younger so if I see more than 5 together I

 

I loved reading this, we always do this when we find a tired bee trapped in the porch, it's amazing how quickly they recover. I use the honey on a teaspoon method. And I was very cheered up yesterday by the hum of bumblebees on the raspberries and loganberries.

 

great story , best with sugar and warm water to feed.

Honey is fine as long as its from the UK, NOT IMPORTED as it may contain disease

also if you move the bee to a sunny wall or fence out of the cold wind.

I have seen a bumble bee carry another bee while it was mating




also I have seen bees covered with mites

 

Good grief @Spruce - those pictures of the bees with mites is quite shocking!
Good advice about the honey - that thought would never have occurred to me.

 

@Spruce, any tips as to what to do if you find a bee covered in mite please

 

Hi
Most are harmless , just hitch hiking to a new nest but some bees carry so many it can be a little heavy , if wanting to reduce two things if you smoke a blast of smoke will get them running or you can use a small paint brush to knock them off

 

Thanks Spruce

 

Thanks for this thread Marie. It's good to know we can help them like this. I love honey and would willingly give them a drink to revive them.
It's been quite hard for them this Spring I think. Cold spells, wind and heavy rain must present difficult challenges for them,
Jenny