Sometimes, all we need is a little help

We met this little bee, flat on her back in the middle of the sidewalk, early this morning.  I thought she was dead at first, but upon closer inspection; her legs were writhing and her tongue was completely extended.  It was awful.  She was too weak to grip my finger so I found a bit of leaf to see if she could grab that, and she did.  I suspected that she'd been poisoned, given her behavior, but thought to try anyway, just in case:  The grass around us was replete with droplets so I plucked a blade with three fat beads of water and offered it to her.  I wasn't hopeful, but she began to drink, and then to visibly improve.  Her limbs ceased writhing and by the third drop, she was buzzing her tiny wings at us.  Joy!

I didn't understand how it could have been dehydration to have laid her low, given all the water around us; Todd hypothesized that she'd been smacked silly by a blast of water from the sprinklers, earlier, and then she had become cold and dehydrated while dazed on the concrete.  She slowly finished all three drops of water; I was surprised that she could hold that much given that each drop had been the size of her head.  When she was strong enough to stand on her own, we left her resting in the sun on a fat flower nearby and continued on.

If you see a bee in distress, she may only need some sugar water or even just water on its own, or a safe place to rest and warm up.  Sometimes, all we need is a little help.

Photo by Todd Powers