Sunday 10 August 2014

A Story of a Queen

The last icy cold night of the winter had been past a few weeks and the sun was rising higher and higher in the sky with each passing day. There was a warm earthy smell in the air and the stillness that had settled over winter was gone, as all around life began.
In a tunnel just below the earth there was a stirring....then, from where she had been hibernating over the winter months, a queen bumblebee emerged. She gave herself a little shake then set off to find some flowers rich in sweet nectar to provide her with much needed energy.

The previous spring the garden the queen bee had hibernated in had been like a sweetie shop to a bumblebee. There had been lilac lavenders scenting the air, pink foxgloves growing in the borders and places where the grass had been allowed to grow which hoisted all manner of bumblebee friendly plants. Now the queen, weak after her long sleep, flew around searching in vain for a suitable flower. The borders of the garden were bright with blues, purples and pinks but the pansies that displayed these colours were no use for the queen as the nectar and pollen contained within them was minimal. There were no foxgloves to be seen and the grass had been cut short and stumpy. The queen bumblebee searched and searched for a flower that contained sweet nectar but after a while she became too weak to fly and landed on a grey concrete slab, unable to get up again.

A short while later a loud yell filled the air and a young boy called to his sister to watch where she was putting her foot as she was about to stand on a bee. The girl just missed the queen bee and both of them knelt down to have a look. “ Poor thing” said the girl “ I think she needs some energy. Quick go and ask Mum for a small container with a few drops of water and some sugar in it. Oh and a jar” The boy followed the instructions his sister gave and was soon back with the sugary solution. They placed it down by the queen bee and she lapped it up. Before she had time to fly off the girl carefully caught her in the jar her brother had also brought along. “I think she will happier in our wildlife garden” said the girl. “Our new one that dad helped us create after he tidied up  here is much better than this patch ever was.” So together they carefully took the queen bumblebee to a grassy patch full of insects, birds and (best of all for the queen) lots of wildflowers! They opened the jar and, full of energy from the sugar liquid, the queen flew up and out while the children watched in delight.

That would be a happy ending but it isn’t where the story ends. ..................

The queen bumblebee buzzed her way around lots of different flowers, releasing the protein rich pollen from the flower using her high pitched buzz. When she was full she searched around for somewhere she could build her nest. She didn’t have to search far before she came across an old tree trunk lying on the ground.  She examined it and decided it was a suitable place to lay her eggs. For the next two weeks she sat on her eggs until they hatched into female worker bees. The queen then laid more eggs and the worker bees ensured no predators attacked the nest, they kept the nest clean and they collected pollen and nectar for themselves, the queen and the new bees that emerged. The queen now had no reason to leave the nest and her sole job was to lay eggs. In the late summer male bees hatched as well as new queen bees. The males grew and left the nest to find a mate, never to return.  The queens left to mate but continued to return to the nest at night.


As summer neared an end the male bees and the female worker bees died, such is the short life of a bee. The old queen also passed away but she left behind many new queen bees. These queen bees made themselves a warm hole in the soil and settled down to sleep until the warmth of the spring coaxed them out to begin the cycle again. She also left behind many plants that she and her offspring had pollinated. Plants that would not be around if it wasn’t for the busy bumblebee.