Flower Power

[elusive]

I found a beautiful queen bee clinging to the wall in the rain when I was out cleaning up after the birds yesterday when it was getting dark so she’s spent the night in my special bee recovery box & has just woken up for some breakfast!
It wasn’t supposed to be raining today but of course it is but hopefully I’ll be able to release her later & she’ll fly away to safely hibernate somewhere
It’s dark in her box but you should just about be able to see her drinking, I hope!

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[Maz]

I am fascinated to know more about the Bee recovery box! I can't quite make it out. Is she sipping on something from a tray inside a box? Lovely that you have a Bee recovery box

 

[elusive]

It is hard to see, the box is transparent but has a black lid which makes it a bit too dark to see clearly.It’s my Bee A&E! It’s just an insect box, a ventilated plastic box, with lots of kitchen paper & leaves inside to make a warm dry spot for them to rest & recuperate, it’s been used many times now!
What you can probably see is her proboscis (or hairy tongue!) lapping up her nectar substitute. I usually make my own with sugar & water but I was in a hurry yesterday & reached for my beevive kit.

Save The Bees Today | Bee Revival Products For Nature Lovers | Beevive

Save the bees with our range of sustainable bee gifts, including our original Bee Revival Kit for tired bees. Our products are an ideal gift for an explorer, nature, gardening or animal lover!

beevive.com

She’s gone & hidden away again now but I’m still hoping she’ll be ok to release soon.

 

[Maz]

That is something new I have learned

 

[Frida]

So pleased you're helping the bee.
I saved a bee this summer by giving some sugar water. It was wonderful to watch and I felt very happy when eventually it recovered and flew off

 

[Coco61]

Lovely to have a bee A&E. Didn’t occur to me although I rescue any I see caught in a web.

 

[Maz]

I’ve just planted some wild primrose plugs in various places (in the rain). A couple in the hamster flower bed and another couple of beds and a few in the front lawn. A fairly easy job for me as just meant poking a hole and pushing a bit of compost in with the flower plugs. I hope they survive and flower in the spring.

I have one in the back garden that comes up every year without fail so fancied some more.

 

[elusive]

Something nice to look forward to in the spring, I’m sure they’ll be lovely & they are quite tough too so they should survive ok.

 

[Zara]

It is hard to see, the box is transparent but has a black lid which makes it a bit too dark to see clearly.It’s my Bee A&E! It’s just an insect box, a ventilated plastic box, with lots of kitchen paper & leaves inside to make a warm dry spot for them to rest & recuperate, it’s been used many times now!
What you can probably see is her proboscis (or hairy tongue!) lapping up her nectar substitute. I usually make my own with sugar & water but I was in a hurry yesterday & reached for my beevive kit.

Save The Bees Today | Bee Revival Products For Nature Lovers | Beevive

Save the bees with our range of sustainable bee gifts, including our original Bee Revival Kit for tired bees. Our products are an ideal gift for an explorer, nature, gardening or animal lover!

beevive.com

She’s gone & hidden away again now but I’m still hoping she’ll be ok to release soon.

Great idea to have a bee A&E, we use sugar water also and it’s great to see them fly off but for those that are weaker this is a fab idea. Ive shown my daughter and she’s keen to try this

 

[elusive]

I would normally just try giving them sugar water or moving them to a flower if it’s earlier in the day & not raining too hard, usually if I bring them indoors it’s when I find them as it’s getting dark & or they are really wet & cold & need a B&B!
I found one in the birds water once, another autumn queen & she was just managing to keep her head above water but was absolutely soaked & very cold so she came in & it was very satisfying to see her fly off into the sunshine next day.

 

[Maz]

I can imagine that was satisfying Glad she recovered well and is off flying around.

 

[elusive]

The sleepy queen finally woke up!
I thought she had decided to hibernate & stay the winter which would have been a bit of a problem.
The first morning after she’d had a good feed there was no sign of her so I took the paper out & she buzzed at me from inside a curled up leaf so I left her to it, it was stil raining anyway.
Two sunny days when it would have been perfect to release her still no sign of movement of sound.
Finally this morning I heard a short buzz then again a little while ago & she’s now just flown off & away, good luck

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Getting a bit livelier before take off!

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[Maz]

That is great. It must be very rewarding. Can you tell if she still has her sting? I always thought they died if they had used their sting.

 

[elusive]

Not sure if you can see the sting clearly tbh but as far as i know it’s only some honey bees (the workers) which die after using their sting.

 

[Maz]

That's something else I've learned then

 

[Coco61]

Rescue of a queen bee successfully completed. How satisfying

 

[Maz]

My fight back against the rabbits and the ground elder has begun this month. I have dared to plant a few things that are supposed to a) suppress ground elder and b) be rabbit proof. So some hardy geraniums (not yet planted - I’m pacing myself!) and some Ajuga plants. Not much to see yet as they are very small at the moment so I haven’t taken a photo of a muddy flowerbed

 

[elusive]

Things are a bit unsightly with all the mud after the rain! It’s been nice to see some sun for a few takes & great to hear you’ve been getting out there & doing some planting, fingers crossed the plants will have the rabbits & elder beaten!
I love ajuga & so do the little solitary bees.

 

[Maz]

I found a gardening stool which makes life easier. It looks like a tractor seat on wheels Less bending.

 

[elusive]

That’s good, it sounds like fun I think I want one!