Bombing Bumblebees
Mar. 20th, 2015 12:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fruzicleOne of the advantages of having a beekeeper in the family is that he often brings us delightful things he's picked up while at work. In this way we have inherited not only boxes of rescued honeybees, but honeybees still residing in quaint Victorian style bird houses. The most recent new residents in our backyard are fat black and yellow bumblebees, also known as Bombus vosnesenskii. That would be Yellow-Faced Bumblebees to most of us.
While the discussion as to whether to save all honeybees, regardless of their disposition, continues, saving bumble bees is definitely a good thing. The poor creatures fly literally and figuratively below the radar. They are a native species that is struggling to survive. Somehow they haven't gotten the blessing of public opinion regarding their worth. Because of their plight, Bee Busters collects bumblebees whenever possible. My son the beekeeper thus came home a few days ago with a rescued hive of the previously mentioned Yellow-faced critters.
We have set the cardboard box in which they reside right outside our kitchen window. It's been fun to watch them emerging from their little dime-sized portal, executing vigorous figure-eights in the air space above their home, and then taking off for a sortie. When they return, they reverse the process, again buzzing rather loudly outside my window, then eventually crawling back inside their box to bring news of the world back to their family.
I had been a little concerned when these new residents seemed to bonk their little fuzzy yellow faces against our kitchen window, So far, however, they look fine. I did move their box a little farther away from the window. Silly girls, they kept coming back to the first location of their movable hive, so I moved the box back to its original location. (I guess I'm being a helicopter mom!) But we know that unfortunately, in spite of the beekeepers' best efforts, typically the bumblebees often don't survive as long in bee yards as the beekeepers would like. So I have reason to be concerned.
"So, what's the problem?" my own beekeeper asked, regarding their compromised survivability.
Casual and very tenuous expert that I am, I responded, "They probably don't have enough of the appropriate forage."--i.e., enough to eat.
(I was smug when just a day or two later no less an expert than Robbin Thorp volunteered the exact same answer!)
So, doting guardian that I am, I was quite pleased to observe foraging on a prolific bush in our backyard, "Indian Hawthorne," also known as Raphiolepis indica. If you're in Southern California, you'll definitely recognize it here:
I also read that they are known to enjoy a number of plants like gourds and blueberries. Well, we don't have any of those. But tomato flowers are also on their menu and I did plant six seedlings of those. But their favorites are all manner of native plants. I've been an aficionado of our local wild plants much longer than I've known anything about bees. I've been offered some from another son's yard. He doesn't want the plants. I love them.
And I'm pretty sure he doesn't want the bumble bees either.
So it's all good. Two sons will be happy. I will be happy. And of course, the bees will be happiest of all..
While the discussion as to whether to save all honeybees, regardless of their disposition, continues, saving bumble bees is definitely a good thing. The poor creatures fly literally and figuratively below the radar. They are a native species that is struggling to survive. Somehow they haven't gotten the blessing of public opinion regarding their worth. Because of their plight, Bee Busters collects bumblebees whenever possible. My son the beekeeper thus came home a few days ago with a rescued hive of the previously mentioned Yellow-faced critters.
We have set the cardboard box in which they reside right outside our kitchen window. It's been fun to watch them emerging from their little dime-sized portal, executing vigorous figure-eights in the air space above their home, and then taking off for a sortie. When they return, they reverse the process, again buzzing rather loudly outside my window, then eventually crawling back inside their box to bring news of the world back to their family.
I had been a little concerned when these new residents seemed to bonk their little fuzzy yellow faces against our kitchen window, So far, however, they look fine. I did move their box a little farther away from the window. Silly girls, they kept coming back to the first location of their movable hive, so I moved the box back to its original location. (I guess I'm being a helicopter mom!) But we know that unfortunately, in spite of the beekeepers' best efforts, typically the bumblebees often don't survive as long in bee yards as the beekeepers would like. So I have reason to be concerned.
"So, what's the problem?" my own beekeeper asked, regarding their compromised survivability.
Casual and very tenuous expert that I am, I responded, "They probably don't have enough of the appropriate forage."--i.e., enough to eat.
(I was smug when just a day or two later no less an expert than Robbin Thorp volunteered the exact same answer!)
So, doting guardian that I am, I was quite pleased to observe foraging on a prolific bush in our backyard, "Indian Hawthorne," also known as Raphiolepis indica. If you're in Southern California, you'll definitely recognize it here:
I also read that they are known to enjoy a number of plants like gourds and blueberries. Well, we don't have any of those. But tomato flowers are also on their menu and I did plant six seedlings of those. But their favorites are all manner of native plants. I've been an aficionado of our local wild plants much longer than I've known anything about bees. I've been offered some from another son's yard. He doesn't want the plants. I love them.
And I'm pretty sure he doesn't want the bumble bees either.
So it's all good. Two sons will be happy. I will be happy. And of course, the bees will be happiest of all..
