I have turtleheads (a wildflower, obtained from a wildflower grower in Asheville, North Carolina back in 2012) growing in my back yard. They are so named because the flowers look like - you guessed it.
Bees love this flower. They crawl all the way inside and do their bee thing inside. This year, all I've seen is bumblebees (or bees that look like them). The shortage of bees is troubling.
Meanwhile, our yard has a spider who set up a web not that far away.
Last week, I saw a bumblebee flying among the turtleheads.
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| Not the bee that got caught but you can see a bee on the right side of the flower stalk |
It flew off, and collided with the spiderweb. Immediately it was trapped. Initially, I was going to let nature take its course. Sure enough the spider came near but, interestingly, did not attack the bee, which wasn't moving.
Bees...shortage of bees...bee that will die inches from me. It was the wrong thing to do, I know, but I took action.
I captured the bee (and part of the sticky web) and managed to get the web off of it.
The bee flew off. And no, I did not harm the spider although it would have needed to rebuild its web.
Did I do wrong? I hope not.
Joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for her #WordlessWednesday.
You didn't do wrong for saving the bee. Lovely flowers too.
ReplyDeleteThank you for joining the Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop.
Have a fabulous Wordless Wednesday. ♥
The bees must be protected in my opinion!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing these beautiful images.
Happy WW and a fine week!
I don't want them to, but spiders scare me. Carol C
ReplyDelete...good for you!
ReplyDeleteI save them if they fall in the bird's or dog's water, but I wouldn't in this case. Is it right or wrong? Depends on whether you're the spider or the bee I guess. I don't know how much energy is expended by a spider building a web, but maybe it needed the bee fuel? Still, you noticed a lack of bees and took some action. I have bees, it's butterflies I lack.
ReplyDeleteSaving the bee was a lovely thing. The spider will find something else to eat.
ReplyDeleteI don't think you did anything wrong either and the bee got a buzz out of it :-)
ReplyDeleteHave a webtastic week 👍
Brave girl … I would not have been able to rescue the bee
ReplyDeleteNo, you didn't. The spider has many insect prey, the bee is valuable. But beyond that, I disagree with the "hand-off nature" policy. In Vermont, it is illegal to interfere at all, even if you find an orphaned fawn. I happen to be reading a book whose theme is this, also, about a biologist who became friends with a fox. (The Fox and I.) You did good.
ReplyDeleteSometimes you just have to intervene.
ReplyDeleteIf there is a shortage of bees in your area, I think you did the right thing. The spider will get something else. They are excellent predators.
ReplyDeleteDear Alana,
ReplyDeleteI so echo your sentiments about the dwindling population of bees. You did the best you you could at that point of time, given the fact that bees need to be saved. Usually they say let nature take its course, but I'm sure Mister Bee must have been super thankful to you for saving their life. What goes around comes around, you see.
Spidey would have loads of other options to feast from.
Yes, the bumble bees are not to be seen at all in cities. I saw one after decades in the gorgeous Kashmir last year, and more recently when we were in the mountains. They have my heart too.
The turtle heads are pretty. Are they fragrant too?
Have a relaxed rest of the week.
https://natashamusing.com/2022/09/truly-a-grand-golden-birthday-natasha-musing/
It's hard to know how much we should intervene.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if God has the same problem.
May have been wrong but I would have and have done the same.
ReplyDelete