Flying for the thrill of it

It's a cloudy and overcast day, about 19 degrees, with windspeeds up to 7.5 mph (not counting gusts).

Common wisdom says bumblebees don't fly in the wind, though of course you'd expect them to have some provision to do so, at least to overcome the challenge of being caught out in a breeze.

Of course, above a certain speed, like a canoeist paddling upstream, they wouldn't be able to make progress against the wind.

Unlike an aeroplane, however, Bumblebees do not rely on air-speed over their wings in order to generate lift (which is what gave rise to the popular myth "scientists say bumblebees shouldn't be able to fly; a comparison with the physics of fixed wing flight doesn't work for bumblebees).

It seems our bufftails are a hardy bunch - whilst activity is much reduced today, it hasn't stopped a few hardy ones venturing out to collect pollen and/or find a mate; time is, after all, of the essence as far as both are concerned. The one I've just seen has been out for about 30 minutes and come back with a decent stash of pollen.

And one final nail in the coffin for the concept of "dull days" - cloudy and overcast it may be, but the light inside our nest box has increased to a level where the infra-red camera is occasionally switching to full colour daylight mode. All that white cloud and reflected light is making it bright.

Maybe the brightness of the day is tempting the bees to venture out. Or maybe they just enjoy the thrill of a windy flight.

The stark reality of nature

I spent a little more time today trying to improve my macro photography of bees coming in and out of the hive. Here's one of my favourite pictures:

Ready for Launch!As the day warmed up there was an increase in activity - right up until 8:45pm when I saw the last bee enter the hive. Most of my monitoring throughout the day was done via a remote camera, but I think I saw at least two or three emerging for the first time and programming their bearings. 

Part way through the day I discovered a very tiny worker on the floor below the hive. On closer inspection I could see she was missing a wing and a leg on her left side and in fact was a little deformed. She was hobbling over the stones on the ground. Once I realised she couldn't fly I used a small tub to pick up her up and try and get her back in the nestbox, but it was very tricky. I decided to provide her some food and drink and take a few photographs too. 

little baby beeIn the picture above she is on the side of a coke-bottle top that contains sugar water. As you can see, she is miniscule and I felt so sorry for her, because unless she is in the nest she has no hope of surviving. (Though, to be honest, I don't know if her chances are any better in the nest).

I made a cardboard funnel and eventually got her back into the nestbox. 

Sadly, a couple of hours later she was back on the entrance of the nest, so I moved her to an emtpy ice-cream tub with some sugar water, pollen and moss and left her alone for the afternoon.

resting on the nestbox edge

I figured I would put her in the nestbox towards the evening so she is not inclined to come out again.

When I next checked on her, about 6.30pm, she had crept under the moss and I was concerned for her temperature, so I brought the box inside and observed. Eventually she showed signs of life so I tried again to get her into the nest. In the end I had to resort to using a spoon and almost gently flicking her into the nestbox entrance, as she would not go any other way. I had no other choice.

I just hope she stays in the nest tomorrow, but I'm fearful she won't. She's programmed to come out and try and find pollen, even though she is incapable of doing so. But, this is the reality of nature.