This exhausted bumblebee was lying on the patio floor. With a little drop of honey on my fingertip it was easy to entice it onto my hand, where after feeding it flew off on its merry way!!
Bumblebees are really friendly furry creatures and you should have no fear from them when handled safely.
The little mites seen under the wings of the bumblebee are hitch hikers!
All my articles, videos and work are funded by my teaching and sales of award winning bumblebee nest boxes, solitary bee boxes, and wormeries.
Hi, I have a courgette plant outside my house and happened to spot a bumblebee on the underside of its flower. He stayed there for such a long time I thought I might do the same as you and give him a drop of honey. After a few minutes he kick-started his engine and flew off… Wow. What a fascinating and rewarding thing to do!
Hi Jade, I have been doing just that for years. Then when I did my little piece about it, it was pointed out to me by a lady whom studied bees at university, that honey is in fact produced by honeybees, not bumblebees and that there could have been a disease passed from it to the bumblebee. Well to be honest I never gave that a thought at all! Apparently I should have used a sugar/water mixture! Honey was to hand in a jar which is why I did it. Something I may look into a little more now!
Yes, after seeing your post I happened across an article from the RSPB. They said the same thing about sugar and water. I will do this the next time I come across a tired little bee, but I never even thought about it at the time; the honey seemed so appropriate! 🙂
Yes, it seemed the ‘sweet’ thing to do Jade!