The Plight of the Bumblebee

As I was watering the few plants in our garden yesterday, I noticed a bee on the edge of a pumpkin blossom. The bee explored the blossom looking for nectar and pollen and then moved on to the next open blossom.

I was mesmerized by the bees actions. It patiently explored each blossom and then buzzed to the next flower in turn. I watched it for a few seconds and then I started looking for other bees. I didn't see any other bees and I haven't seen many bees at all this year. In an earlier post, I mentioned having read that in the United States alone several species of bees are extinct or nearly non existent.

I explored deeper into the pumpkin plants and still only saw the one bee and it was a honeybee. I looked at the tomato blossoms and I didn't see another bee. I remember as a kid, I would go out into the garden to hoe weeds and there would be bees every where. It wasn't just one kind of bee either but several varieties. In fact it seemed that the bees wouldn't be distracted from their duty unless provoked which as a kid I did that more often then I should have.

When I said the bees weren't easily distracted or easily provoked, that was true in most cases except for the Bumblebee. It seemed the Bumblebee was a little quicker to provoke then the honeybee and once provoked the Bumblebee became quite aggressive.

I remember one time being chased out of the garden by a couple of Bumblebees, that were hot on my tail. I didn't mind not having to hoe the weeds so I was okay with that until my Mother told me to finish the job I had been given. I am not sure my Mother understood the danger I would be in if I went back into the garden with the Bumblebees still there. She finally persuaded me to go back into the garden and it seemed I was battling those Bumblebees the rest of the day.

As I thought about this and other adventures I have had with Bumblebees, I again thought about the lone honeybee in my present garden. I realized it has been several years since I have seen a Bumblebee. In fact I don't remember when that was. My wife said she remembers seeing Bumblebees about seven years ago and my youngest daughter thought she  had seen one about that time also.

It is a sad thought for me to think that my grandchildren might not ever know what a Bumblebee is except from pictures. I know that I said earlier in this post that the Bumblebee got pretty aggressive when provoked but the thing I admired about the Bumblebee is the Bumblebee's ability to pollinate a garden.

I remember watching the Bumblebees as they worked our garden, especially the large blossoms like the pumpkin and squash blossoms. The Bumblebee would land on the flower and it almost seemed to run into the big orange or yellow blossoms. It would pack itself with large amounts of pollen and then it would fly to the next flower. It always seemed strange to me that the Bumblebee could fly in the first place but once it had packed itself with all the pollen it could carry I was amazed that they got into the air at all.

The Bumblebees seemed to enjoy the task of getting covered with pollen. It fact they reminded me of a teenage boy trying to showoff for a girl that had caught his eye. The Bumblebees would literally work themselves to death. Many a time I would see Bumblebees, still packed with pollen, having died just a few feet from the hive. I really think the Bumblebee was a beautiful sight. I hope that the Bumblebee isn't lost for ever. It would be a sad day indeed.

I enjoy watching bees and I am fascinated with the good they do. Maybe we all can learn from the Bumblebee and get busy doing what we enjoy doing.

I have a website on which I promote beekeeping products. It is BeeKeepBees. <Click on this or copy and paste this address into your browser: http://beekeepbees.earthwormmagicinfo.com/. Here is another link you might be interested in clicking on. Hobby Hive : Beekeeping for Beginners