Thursday, July 2, 2009

A Not So Dead Bee

While at the bee yard the day before I picked up 3 dead bees. I did a visual check to see if they were moving and they weren't. So I put them in my queen cage to take home.

I have a small microscope at home and I wanted to get a look at some fresh dead bees. It really helps to understand their anatomy better I find when I can examine it minutely. I paint water colours of bees too and the more I know about their structure visually, the better and more realistic my paintings are.

The only problem was that when I got home and took out the queen cage, one bee was very much alive.

I think the bee must have been stunned from being shaken off the hive cover when I was working with the hive. The body had laid there for quite a few minutes which was why I thought it was dead.
So I fed her some honey, watching while her tongue stuck out to lick it up. I observed her for the rest of the day and then the next day I returned to the bee yard to do some work, so I took her along and released her.

That bee got to travel farther than she ever thought she would I bet. It's kind of funny because the book I've written about bees has a part where the bees travel a long distance... so maybe my book is coming to life in part. That'd be cool!

I know, it was a lot to do for just one bee. But it turned out that I was able to observe her for several hours at close quarters, and without mosquitoes biting me every few seconds which was a real pleasure.
While walking up the trail I saw this brown thing laying in the grasses. I was sure it was a young deer. I crept up with my camera and snapped a picture before it would run away or move. I thought if it was a really young fawn it wouldn't run away at all.
I got closer, closer. And then was able to see it.... a giant dead brown burdock leaf.

2 comments:

Chris said...

That's pretty funny Barbara about how you perceived the dead leaf to be a whitetail fawn. With my love of the outdoors and the natural world, i have also done the exact same thing numerous times while out hunting and such.

I always make sure whenever i take a youngster out hunting with me that i take the time to expound about this possibility when in the great outdoors, so as to deter any accidents.

So Barbara if it makes you feel any better, no you are not crazy, any one which has spent time in the great natural world has had a like occurrence happen to them.

It is weird though how things appear to be an animal or such only to find upon closer inspections to be some thing else.

Chris

The Beneficial Bee said...

Great story about taking the bee home. I can really see a children's book in the making!