There is a bee on my lap

[YesitsBess]

This is Horacio, he is one of three bumbles who seem to keep visiting a specific part of our decking, exhausted. So each time I get some honey, and sit them on my lap until they can go off again. I know they’re a bit slow at this time of year, but what can I be doing to help them that isn’t sitting with them on my lap please?

I am suitably braced for bee puns, and welcome future name suggestions. Currently there is him, Ignacio, and sister Maria Consuela.

Thankyou for your attention on this matter.

How fascinating and lovely! 😍😍😍

I also did not know about tomatoes and bumblebees 😮

Keep up the good work op. One of my proudest mum moments was coming home and finding both my daughters giving sugarwater to a crashed bumblebee, they were 12 and 7. One of my daughters best moments is carefully stroking a bumble on her lap when a few seconds before screaming because it owned a sting (equating it to wasps). She was five.

They are absolutely beautiful and amazing creatures 😍

The tomato fact is a proper pub quiz belter isn’t it?!?

Buzz Aldrin says hello from Somerset! 🐝

That is a very handsome bee 🐝

Naw, a stanky pond would suffice. Love the tomato fact! Managed to grow a few this year, thanks 🐝

I might be in the right place to say, my kid loves wasps - I was once on a field around this time of year training dog with snifts of ham and one wasp just wouldn't beat it, so I stuck a bit of ham down on a bench - kinda like I was luring it, it followed it - then watched it trim a piece off and fly away with it. It was heckin' COOL. They leave you alone at the table too, if you share your food. They just get so hungry.

They sometimes get so frantic they kind of miss it so it can take a few moments to get them to see the food, but they settle down. This is major anthrop time but I wonder whether they've evolved over time to be extra aggressive towards humans because of the kill-it-with-fire type attitude. Shared a nice cream tea with a wasp once...

wasps also love bacon. I have seen them demolish it with their little mandibles.

word has clearly got around here. One of the hedges is blooming and it’s positively buzzing with bumbles! Bumblebutts everywhere!

😍
Fellow wasp fan here. I was looking at a rather mangled dead bird in my garden, wondering what killed it, when a wasp flew down, chewed off a bit of bird innards and flew away with it. So cool! I've also stood and watched a wasp chew at a fence post (so close I could hear it) which presumably it was going to use to build the nest. They're fascinating creatures.

@Idontdoyoga that's an amazing story! I dream of hand feeding wasps and if I have the chance I'll dab a bit of jam on my finger and let them eat it. I'm a firm believer that if you leave them alone they're just fine and I've never had problems with them (even when I had a wasp nest right outside my back door)