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Friday, September 18, 2009

What's wrong with the bees?

For the last several mornings, the calamintha and agastache have been festooned with bee bodies, barely moving.

Are they cold?

These had their faces glued in nectar position. But they were frozen solid in place.

The weather is cool overnight, now.

Are they just tired?
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8 comments:

  1. UmāSeptember 18, 2009 at 11:21 PM

    Funny, I just came across a bee today napping on a stone in the middle of the afternoon and wondered the same thing...

    ReplyDelete
  2. dianasfaria.comSeptember 19, 2009 at 12:03 AM

    I think they are tired from their getting drunk on nectar the last few weeks. Every year I watch them stagger (in flight) as they fly from one flower to the next coated in so much pollen(?) they can barely fly.
    I imagine they are now recuperating from all the debauchery. I could be wrong, I don't really know anything about bees, what they eat or do. This is just what I've noticed and what seems like they are up too.

    ReplyDelete
  3. rachelSeptember 19, 2009 at 8:22 AM

    I've found bees seemingly stuck like that overnight, on the echinops, but they eventually fly off. Bumble bees seem to run out of steam sometimes too, and just land on the ground; people have been putting out a little sugary water for them, which they suck up, recovering quickly. But I have to admit I know very little about bees, just that we need to care more about what we're doing to their environment....

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ellen ZachosSeptember 19, 2009 at 9:37 AM

    Same thing for me on a CPW terrace: bees immobile on the Eupatorium. I'm grateful because it lets me get in there and deadhead, but as for the cause...I vote temperature.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousSeptember 19, 2009 at 8:16 PM

    Honey bees I know...bumbles, not so much.
    But my guess is a sudden drop in temperature.A drop of around 10deg+ C in a couple of hours is pretty severe for some creatures.

    ReplyDelete
  6. FrankSeptember 19, 2009 at 10:07 PM

    Ahh, the bees. The cooler air slows them down, their wings don't work below a certain temp. Better hole up for the evening!

    Two years ago, when I just began:

    http//www.nycgarden.blogspot.com/2007/10/where-bees-sleep.html

    And check this out:
    http//www.bumblebee.org/bodyTempReg.htm

    ReplyDelete
  7. MatthewSeptember 20, 2009 at 8:37 AM

    Yes, I vote for the cold, too. Some species will also cluster together to sleep through the night.

    ReplyDelete
  8. kbdSeptember 22, 2009 at 4:47 PM

    glad other people have noticed it, thought it was just the bumblebees on my autumn joy

    ReplyDelete

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