TimeOut

I went out this morning to check the hummingbird who is still in the nest (he's fine), and on the way gave a glance at our little beehive.

I was shocked. Shocked and dismayed to see a small dish full of water and bees, bedraggled, floating and dead. Last night when my wife and I were watering the plants, some water must have been caught by this dish, and the bees went for it and were drowned. Maybe 100 of them. :-(

I poured out the water and the bees onto a board at the front of the hive (the landing pad) and a few of them started to stir. Thinking some warmth would help them, I moved the board over into some direct sunlight about 20 feet from the hive. I used some twigs and sticks to help separate the wet pile of bees -- now let's have the pictures tell the rest of the story.

I helped as much as I could by turning over the bees who were on their backs, even if they looked dead. They all came back to life!

Forty-five minutes and only 3 bees remained on the board.

After an hour, I put the board back, saw no dead bees on the ground, and can't believe the resilience of these terrific little creatures who seem to be back to work as usual.

On the other side of the yard, hummingbird chick #2 seems to be happy in his momma's nest, showing no signs of moving out. He's not afraid of me at alI. What do one have to do to get a child kickstarted on life?  (a bigger question that no doubt some of our fathers here have the same issue).

Cheers,

Cazalea

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