While watering the plants this morning, I found this bee
moving about on the ground. I thought that was odd! I've
never managed to get a close shot of this kind and here it
was, barely moving. I got down on my knees and watched it
for a while. It tried to fly but simply couldn't take off!
I held out a stick and it got on to it without any hesitation.Then
I placed it on this flower. Now I've never seen a bee of this size
on these blooms. But there are always tiny bees hovering at light-
ning speed here. It seemed happy but was still slow for a bee!
I went back to my chores and temporarily forgot about it. But the
moment I remembered I went back to check. Still there.
Went back again after a while...still there. But when I went to
check the third time it'd flown away. Well, I didn't actually
see it in action but I'd like to think about it that way. Maybe
the flower must've rejuvenated it! If all the smaller bees
happily buzz around these blooms, it must've done wonders for
my sluggish/hurt bee too!!
And a bonus as well! This carpenter bee drills holes on dead
bamboo and I'd never seen one as still as this. Didn't even
let go of what it was holding on to when I clicked away. I
didn't think that I'd get bees to 'behave' for my camera!
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15 comments:
Kanak..beautiful pictures! It could be a bit of good Karma! Perhaps they simply felt you deserved some nice bee pictures in appreciation for all the wonderful plants you supply them with.
Do you suppose it is some type of wasp rather than a bee? Wasps are characteristically unpredictable. I just found a new site, ramblingwoods.blogspot.com, that might help with identification. The blogger (I think her name is Michelle) has already put my mind at ease about my ID of a butterfly on an earlier post of mine.
How remarkable the bee activity in your garden today Kanak. I find it interesting to watch them buzzing around the garden.
It is very pretty looking bee. Can't imagine what its problem was.
That's such a pretty white bloom no wonder the bee was rejuvenated!
I have never see this sort of bee. I wonder why it was so sluggish; I guess there could be a few possibilities. I have carpenter bees in my garden. I love them and you are right they are hard to photograph they are such quick and erratic flyers.
Nice captures of bees! I think the first bee was hurt and you cured it!
/Katarina
Rhonda, I like that bit about good Karma. No wonder the bees beehaved!!!
W2W, yes, that could be a wasp. In my joy at being able to take the photos, that fact completely slipped out of my mind. I did check the site you mentioned and it's wonderful...I'll need some more time finding out the ID. But thanks a ton for telling me about Rambling Woods.
PGL, it's a wonderful activity in itself...watching them!
Tina, that's right. That yellow bit does look good.
Susie, these blooms do not have any smell. But the insects make a bee-line (lol) for them. You can see ants in one of the shots too!
Trudi, with these shots my desperate need for clicking insect pictures have been reduced somewhat. It's impossible to get things done because they're such a (lovely) distraction! Then there are the birds too! At times I can't decide whom I should go after--the birds or the bees?!!
Katarina, that's a lovely thought!
Hey, cool photos and story. I'm wondering too if it's a wasp - I looked at http://whatsthatbug.com, great site with tons of images and you can send in yours with a question for ID. Their wasp page had something on it that looked kind of like yours, a mason wasp. It's fun to get that close to something strange and new in your garden (as long as it doesn't sting you)!
- Karen
http://greenwalks.wordpress.com
Werry werry nice post!
These cind of bees I did se in Thailand... I´v got a garden and house ther to...
In Sweden the bees and wasps are al stiped at the backend.
Linda
Hey, your mystery bee reminds me of Oriental Hornets. They had a go at me in a restaurant and tried to steal pieces of my chicken fillet. I had to indulge them in the end. Whatever it is, I'm sure the lovely scent of your blooms has given it a breath of life ;-) Really nice post. My compliments.
Karen, thanks for telling me about what'sthebug. I finally managed to track down a look-alike at Bug Guide. It looks almost the same but the legs are yellow. The lower portion is ditto and it's called the Great Golden Digger wasp! With a name like Digger...gives me the shivers thinking about the sting!! Thanks for stopping by.
Linda, thanks for your visit. Love your blogs!
Viooltje, hi! Weren't you scared of being stung? I've been stung quite a few times and I prefer to keep my distance! Now for a possibly hurt bee/wasp it's a different story.
Thank you for your visit and kind comment.
What an unusual bee. We have a real problem here in the UK as the native bee population is dwindling so any bee is a welcome visitor to my plot.
Maybe they had been feeding on poppy flowers and overdosed?
Or, could it have been a really tired wasp who had had enough of zipping around and desperately needed an energy drink to recharge?
But most possibly it was just jealous of all the attention you had been lavishing on the butterflies and dragonflies and thought "why I'm always the bridesmaid and never the bride?" !
Sorry, I'm just in one of those whimsical moods today ;-D
Liz, thanks for visiting. Reading your comment about the dwindling bee population--what could be the main reasons?!
Sunita, hi! I'd have gone with the first but no poppies bloom in the neighbourhood at this point! But who knows some other flowers could have the same effect!
I'm all for the third...the jealous angle! LOL! Honestly, I've spent the summer chasing more of dragonflies than butterflies! My favouritism must've become so obnoxious to the bees that they decided---well, if you can't beat them...........!!
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