I hope you don't think this odd, but have you ever fed a bee? Bees often come into my house. They look tired. I once saw on TV that if you find a bee that just sits it ran out of energy and you can feed them. When I see a solitary bee just sitting I'll put a drop of honey on my finger. I would hold it close and they quickly "smell" it and climb up. They then start to immediately lick it up with that little tongue thingie. It's kinda cute cause afterwards they would wipe their feelers, sit for a while then fly off. I'd always make sure I stand in the sun, cause apparently they need the sun to find their way back to the hive. I'm no entomologist and only took basic biology in High School (took physics instead). I wash washing my Prius today. Afterwards I was drying in the garage. I look over my shoulder and there's this little fella just sitting quietly on my shoulder. It was almost like he came to me for help. Anyways I fed him, and let him sit outside on a leaf in the sun to warm up. Bees seem attracted to my white car and the white T-shirt I was wearing today. My great uncle was a bee farmer. We would often visit him when I was little so that's where I lost all fear of bees.
Rather you than me, I feed em with fly spray if they come into my house. Yep, I'm nasty. I should add, I have lots of flowering trees and shrubs in my garden to feed the bees outside, where they belong. I have never seen a tired looking bee in my garden.
Neat! I've always been afraid of them since I got stung as a child. So they will just eat some sugar water and not sting you? The story here in California is that there are "Africanized" bees migrating north from Mexico. The local bees are relatively calm, and are losing out to the far more aggressive African variety. Sounds like the "African" bees in Africa are a lot more friendly than the Mexican "African" bees.
i don't know what kind of bees you are talking about, and i don't know the difference between a bee, a wasp or a hornet. but we have a lot of beekeepers in the area and tons of them in our garden and landscape. they are small and furry and not at all aggresive. i would be happy to feed one, but have never had the opportunity. yellow jackets, wasps, hornets, etc. are not welcome although i do see some of them pollonating the flowers. it's all very interesting tho.
I've never tried that: Little Bee's I'm not afraid of, Yellow jackets a little more.. The Big Bumble bee's that sound like a Harrier Jump Jet. Heck yes I'm afraid of them LOL Bees don't really care about you as long as you leave them alone.. (They are just looking for food.) We are pretty lucky in Oregon, not too many Things can kill us here, Some Black Widows and Brown Recluse (SP?) Of course Rattle Snakes, on the east side and the occasional deranged Cougar. But other than that, it's the volcano's. (Which you can run from easily, if given a warning)
Since I have been stung by just about every insect that has wings and a stinger, I'll help classify them: 1-If it stings once and leaves the stinger embedded in your flesh---Thats a bee. 2-If it stings you over and over again---That's a wasp. 3-If it stings you, and then invites it's 200 friends to join it in stinging you---That's 201 yellow jackets. 4-If it stings you and then starts to carry you away--That's a hornet.
I meant only those things We don't have Alligators, or Black Mombas or Tornados and stuff like that. We do have Death Cap Mushrooms... Anyway IMO safter than most of the country Russ
Thanks for your story. Sometimes I see a solitary bee sitting around, too. I will give this a try. I have enough sugar water around as I'm an avid hummingbird watcher with lots of feeders and sometimes see bee-looking-things visiting the feeders. I was very afraid of bees as a child but since I've been gardening as an adult, I am not afraid anymore. I'm always glad when I walk through my garden amid the tall sunflowers, corn, etc. and hear the bees buzzing away because then I know my vegetable plants will be pollinated. With all concerns worldwide of colony collapse disorder due to pesticides, herbicides, etc., I think any help we can give these little workers via organic gardening, bee friendly gardening, and heck-- a little lunch occasionally--, is a good thing and I'm all for it.
Good for you, A Positive attitude toward Bees I'm trying to convince people Spiders are good also (Because they eat flys and other unwanted bugs.)
We often feed bees and hornets when we are camping or picnicking. The bees come and get syrup at breakfast, while the hornets steal little pieces of meat. At one point we were feeding a jumping spider on our front porch. He liked little pieces of hamburger, where he could latch on and suck the juice out of it. He lived on the underside of our table, and would come up to visit when we ate. I also like to catch bugs and feed them to the toads at the marina. Our marina has some very fat toads. Tom
:fish2: Are you sure they're TOADs? [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toad"]Toad[/ame]s prefer dry habitats...not very likely around a marina. Now a bunch of fat FROGs...that I can believe.
I'm another one who feeds bees via plants in my yard. Don't like them inside, though - I'm allergic to them (last time I was stung, about 10 years ago, my foot swelled up to the size of a football). I actively hate hornets, yellowjackets, and their ilk. I don't mind spiders in my house - I'd rather have them than whatever it is they're eating. Exception: The black widow I saw crawling up my shirt last month (true story. It hopped on when I got an air conditioner up from the basement that I hadn't touched in three years).
I have a huge flower garden with all the stinging insects you could imagine and only got stung once while weeding. I picked a weed with a wasp on it and irritated it. Other than that, even the colony nesters leave me alone when doing my business, so long as I mind theirs. To the OP, that little bee sitting on your shoulder may be imbibing salt from your sweat. So just keep working outside in the heat and you'll keep them happy and fat.
We put in a Mason Bee house this year. Mason bees are friendly, and do lots and lots of pollinating, especially the early stuff, like cherry blossoms, blueberries, etc. We generally relocate wildlife back to the outdoors if it should happen to wander into the house.
