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What to do if you find a bumblebee
that cannot fly?
How can you tell when a bumblebee is feeling
threatened?
Bees are eating my house/digging up my lawn, making holes
in wood, hovering and attacking anything nearby!
What do they
eat?
I keep finding bees in the
house, but the windows are closed.
What to do if you find a bumblebee that cannot
fly?
The bumblebee is either sick, too old or too cold to fly. If it
is sick or infected with a parasite then I'm afraid
there is not much that can be done.
If you find a
grounded bumblebee early in the year, just at the start of the first warmer
days, then it is probably a queen. She may have been caught out in a sudden
shower or a cold spell. If the temperature of the thorax falls below 30
oC the bumblebee cannot take off (see temperature regulation). The best thing you can do it pick
her up using a piece of paper or card, put her somewhere warmer, and feed her.
When she has warmed and fed she will most likely fly off. You can feed her
using a 30/70 mixture of honey and water in a pipette or eye dropper, or just a
drop of this on a suitable surface within her reach, but be careful not to wet
her hair or get her sticky. By saving a queen you may have saved an entire
nest. If the weather is really unsuitable for letting her go, or if it is getting dark, you can keep her for a day or so if you are willing to feed her.
A grounded bee
found at the height or end of summer is another matter. Look at the wings. If
they are ragged round the edges (see the photographs of wings) then you have either an old queen or an old
worker. There is little you can do as really it is their time to die, however
you could take them in and feed them if you wish, but let them go if they start
to fly. If the wings are fairly intact then you have probably got a male that
is either cold or has been so busy patrolling that he forgot to drink. As above
you can take him somewhere warm and feed him, then let him go.
Why does my dog eat bumblebees?
It is usually owners of medium to large dogs that ask this question. The dogs in question will often catch and eat flies too. In this case it is probably just the natural dog behaviour of catching something. If it is just bees the dog eats then it might be doing so for the sweet, nectar-containg honey stomach.
I'm not sure if these dogs are immune to the sting or if they think the pain is worth the reward. |
What do they
eat?
Bumblebees eat nectar and pollen, both of which
are found in flowers. Pollen is eaten mainly by the queen and the grubs as it
is full of protein, although the workers eat some too. Nectar is mainly water
with different types of sugary substances in it. Honey is just nectar that has
less water and so the sugar has become more concentrated.
I keep finding bumblebee
in the house, but the windows are closed.
If
you are finding a few dead or tired bumblebees in what seem to be closed
rooms, usually bedrooms or bathrooms, then you probably have a nest in the
attic. What can happen is that when an adult bumblebee is ready to go out
foraging for the first time she will head to the nearest source of light. Now
as this usually happens in the daytime that light comes from the outside. The
bumblebee will form a mental map of the way from the nest to the opening, and
all is well. However sometimes the strongest source of light is artificial, but
he bumblebee still heads for it, this may be a hole in the ceiling, or a gap
round a light fitting. The bumblebee crawls through the hole thinking she is
outside, but she is trapped. The poor thing will bang herself repeatedly
against any window in an attempt to get out, and usually die of exhaustion.
If
this is happening in your house there is little you can do to help the
bumblebees already in the room unless you can find the hole and put her back where she came from.
Once you have done that you can block the hole with anything temporary, until
you can make proper repairs. The material you use to block up the hole needn't
be very strong as bumblebees don't chew. It just needs to be light tight. If
you cannot locate the hole then you can try going up into your attic when it is
dark, and getting someone to switch on the lights below. You should be able to
see the source of light then and block it up.
A lone bee is hovering over my deck, patrolling my deck.
This is probably a carpenter bee male, he is harmless as he has no sting and is looking for soon to emerge females.
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