I think I might have to cut Rachael off from her bee rescue efforts. I know, that sounds horrible. Both of our families are enjoying the wonderful lake together this week. We have found a few bees that were trying to drink from the lake, but instead went too far in and became stuck on the water’s surface — wings wet, unable to get free — doomed to drown in the lake as so many bees have done before (This is why the bee water stations are so important for us to have in our gardens). So Rachael and her son fish the poor drowning bees out of the water, give them a safe place to dry off and give them a little sugar water for an energy boost.
Sounds sweet and beautiful right. Well… yes and no. I say yes because it is absolutely fascinating to watch a bee recover from being soaked. The first thing our sweet little bee did was catch her breath and sat very still on Rachael’s finger. It’s almost as if she was trying to asses the situation. She soon realized that nothing was going to happen, and that we were not going to squish her or swat her with a hat. It was time to get to work. She started with her face. We watched as she stuck out her very long tongue, rubbed her front feet on them, and then cleaned off her face and antennae. She didn’t seem to mind at all the two giant heads smothering her with our hot breath while she did this. She might have even enjoyed the oooh’s and ahhhh’s as she worked. Once she seemed satisfied with her head, it was time to work on her wings. This was one of the most fascinating things I have ever watched. Her wings were stuck to her body, so she wiggled around, bending her body this way and that, using her back legs to push her wings up, as well as hold them up off her still wet body. Wiggle wiggle, bend, lift, hold, repeat. She did this on both side with impressive efficiency. Once she seemed satisfied with her wings, she gave them a test flutter. SUCCESS! This of course elicited screams of joy and glee from the giant heads. She had to pause a second because screams are usually met with a giant hat flying right at her. No hat came. To her surprise instead it was followed by a gigantic serving of tasty magic nectar from the goddesses. I’m writing this, so I can call myself a goddess if I want to. I am also tan and svelte in my story, so just let me be.
The sugar / magic water was just the energy boost this little lady needed to complete her recovery. This is when things go a bit south for me. So our sweet lady goes from completely drained of all her energy to jacked up like a five year old on pixie sticks and cola. Instantly she is running around Rachael’s hand, up her arm across her face and back again. Wings are actually putting off a breeze and she doesn’t look like she is stopping anytime soon. Rachael is patiently letting her do what she needs to do and seems almost Zen like as the sweet jacked up bee dances across her face. Then it happens… SHE TAKES FLIGHT!!! Then lands on me. I try, so hard to not freak out. She runs in circles up and down my arm and I am trying to find my Zen thingy. Where the heck is my Zen thingy. Oh GOD she is heading for my face. ZEN ZEN! No Zen is found, but that hat is close by. I like ya little bee, but we aren’t there yet. Thankfully she takes flight and she is off. It is almost sad that she has left us, but we know she must go on to be with her hive. A bittersweet feeling floods over us. She is gone. We feel a huge sense… wait… she is back. She seems to really like dancing on our heads. That’s great. We are one with nature. Okay now little girl, it’s time to go. Back on Rachael’s face. Yaaaa… I’m reaching for the hat again.
This is the problem with this particular little lady. She loved that sugar water so much, she didn’t want to leave. That was yesterday that we did this. This morning she is waiting at the back door. Go home bee. You’re drunk.
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