Waiting Out the Storm
When I left this morning, after days of rain, I checked on our bees. Boy, they were drenched and looking utterly miserable. Look at this one!
I had checked on them every single day during the nor'easter, all clinging firmly to their flower, leaf or stem, sheltering through the storm. Not a single movement, nor any sign of foraging, it seemed. Tough little things.
I lifted all the flowers that had been flattened onto the ground by the weight of the water, getting them off the sidewalk along the garden and attaching them back up so our bees would not risk being stepped on. This afternoon, activity in the flowers seemed pretty much back to normal. Some of the bees looked a little worse for wear, but some are also simply reaching the end of their lives.
All in all, it looks like many of them made it through. Phew!
The photo is one I took this morning of one of them, a male common eastern bumble bee, I think. Or is it an Eastern carpenter bee... Perhaps gathering themselves before making their first move of the day.
📷 Common Eastern Bumble Bee · Bourdon Fébrile (Bombus impatiens) | © Claire O'Neill, please credit accordingly.
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