worker bees

[albertajune]

We were engrossed in watching this bee work so hard to get his pollen.
In this first pic he took quite a while pushing up the top part of this antirrinum flower, before he got into it and it then completely shut behind him



Here, he has struggled to get out again, covered in pollen

Maybe not the same bee, but he looked absolutely exhausted, flat out on this Zinnia.

[Mo]

nice pictures.
Do the worker bumble bes survive the winter? I know wasps don't - just the queen, and honey bees do.

[albertajune]

nice pictures.
Do the worker bumble bes survive the winter? I know wasps don't - just the queen, and honey bees do.

I really don't know Mo. When we ha a bees nest behind our guttering last year, a bee keeper said that he could remove them but that they would go on their own. He than said to plug the hole where they were getting in or they would be back the next year.
I don't know if that would include all the different bees.
I used the term worker bees because they were putting in so much effort. They probably are honey bees if collecting pollen.

[Mo]

Honey bees are slimmer than that. (I used to keep them till I became allergic)
Wiki says that they die before winter except the newly hatched queens which mate before the males die off and start a new colony in spring. The first generation of females (workers) then take over collecting nectar and pollen (just like honey bee workers) to feed their sister grubs, leaving the queen to lay eggs full time. Honey bees form a big enough colony with enough stores to huddle together and survive the winter.
Lots of different species of bumble bees.

[Sara]

Lovely pictures June.......

I could also sit mesmerised by the comings and goings of the bees in the hibiscus..... They work so hard all summer

[Linda S]

Such lovely pictures June i too love to watch the bees going about thier business. Eons ago i was stung by a bee and what upset me terribly was the fact that i had not known it was there and put my hand on it. The poor bee was only defending itself from my stupidity, but would then have died because ami right in thinking that if they sting the die because the sting pulls out. Wasps dont so thets why they can sting often as they like i think.
Mo thanks for the link i honestly didnt know there were so many types of bee
Lindaxx

[Mo]

A bee has a barbed sting, so it can't pull it out straight. To minimise the amount of venom you need to take the sting out between your fingernails, without squeezing the bag of venom that gets left behind pulsing and pumping, after you've knocked the bee off.
Or you can stand there getting more stung as it winds its sting free and flies off.

[Knikitta]

I think she meant the sting comes out of the bee, which is correct. Bees do indeed die after stinging.

I really wanted a small bee hive this year, but my partner is allergic to stings (bee and wasp) and we were not sure if this meant the children might be as well so we didn't want to risk it.

If I ever get an allotment I will definitely inquire if I can have one on there.

[Mo]

I think she meant the sting comes out of the bee, which is correct. Bees do indeed die after stinging.

Yes, it usually does if it stings a person, tearing out the venom sac and killing the bee. That's because we brush the bee away and it can't retract its sting quickly as the sting is barbed. If you wait till it has finished stinging you (ouch and double ouch) it can fly away intact.

[LisaB]

Aww great pictures!

I have a love-hate relationship with bees. I enjoy watching them, and I think they're quite cute, little fuzzy creatures with wings.
But I was stung 3 times when I was younger (well, twice by a bee and once by a wasp, all completely my own fault) and it's given me a bit of a phobia, if a bee gets too close I will scream and run (or hobble, in my case)

[paddy graham]

Just read that scientists have been astonished by the power of a bees brain.
Let loose to find their way among five artificial flowers in a one kilometre field they soon learnt the most efficient rout. In a short time they learnt flight paths to navigate around the flowers with as little energy as possible.
Just a little bit of trivial information there.