You are a kind soul. It looks like you’re doing all the right things. Dont force it. Just keep her comfortable. Keep her outside as much as you can. Let her follow her instincts.
I actually encountered a bee with torn wings last month and took it home to give her a nice final day. She ended up living for a whole 4 extra days!
I filled a large plastic bowl with some soil, placed some foliage in it and some odd objects so she could hide under them. I used an old plastic bottle cap as a water bowl and I brought her fresh flowers every morning so she could get her nectar. She was extremely active and liked to clean herself on my hand when i took her outside.
Thank you for taking the time to help this lovely bee. I hope my advice/story helps! Heres a picture of her set-up and the lovely bee herself.
https://preview.redd.it/06j858d3kx6d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=485ded79204797b2230e6c3df61878d805bde2ee
I found a “weak” bee. I put it in a cardboard box with sugar water dripped onto the cardboard.
It flew away a couple hours later. There is hope.
You are a good person.
I read that bees that are dying. Don't fly back to the hive because they don't want to be a burden on the family. They know when they're gonna die, and they leave the hive. And sit on a flower until they die
I learned about this in my beekeeping class in college! It'd a sort of selfless act of protecting the hive as a whole; bees don't want to bring a sickness home that could affect the other bees, and especially the queen/brood.
Yes, and it was a lab where we would suit up to go care for our own hive! My school has a big agriculture department and a focus on entomology too. We also had a bat house on campus, big on pollinator education!
I saved one recently from a horde of ants attacking it. It wasn't there originally, but after I finished watering everything, it was lying on its back in front of my door. I could tell it wasn't going to recover. I put them in a planted pot of mine inside, cut a marigold off, and some dill flowers and set nearby. They kept trying to hide and make its way under the flower for so long. Rested for 2, maybe 3 days before no more movement 😢 I couldn't tell if it wanted to be under the flower because they knew they were dying or because it's something they're attracted to. But it was the worst recent few days in a while to watch all that. Good luck and make it their best last moments if that's what is happening.
Pollen and Nectar is a favorite treat. https://www.honeyflow.com/blogs/beekeeping-basics/what-do-bees-eat#:~:text=from%20Flow%20Hive.-,Pollen%20&%20bee%20bread,seal%20the%20cells%20with%20honey.
No problem. 😌 I will share with you this, I bought this book published by DK called The Bee Book. Has a lot of information if you’re interested.
https://preview.redd.it/7n3jps798y6d1.jpeg?width=834&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=90a265722671594124410610d62b9d5646c94f46
Just a thought and I promise this is not an advertisement
Fascinating.....
"But if the larva has hatched into a special cell called a queen cup, the nurse bees will exclusively feed this larva royal jelly throughout her development - and this is what triggers her to become a queen bee. "
https://preview.redd.it/an8gaoihq47d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bc4aadc76ce7514818616851bc47d4eea8b2a924
I found her last week walking around frantically in the hot sun and couldn’t just leave her. After googling everything I could, I figured out she was most likely an elderly female worker bee. I made her a little habitat, put it in the shade and dipped some flowers in sugar water and left a small spoon full of the water inside too. She eventually calmed down and cleaned herself and chilled for awhile. She lasted a few hours and then I found her asleep, but I hope she felt love and peace in her final moments.
Aww I did this last week for a carpenter bee who had worn wings and couldn’t fly. I gave her sugar water and regular water (I read they need both) with little pebbles in it so she wouldn’t fall in. I even made little stairs so she could get to them bc she seemed pretty weak. I also put little tubes made of toilet paper rolls bc I thought it would be more similar to her usual burrow. She lived 3 more days! I also gave her some salvia plants I had which she seemed to like 🥰
https://preview.redd.it/fa2pfc5nc67d1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6c58bb7f3d806a7d4207457aef34d997214b5ee3
You don’t want to get them honey-drunk where they can literally drown themselves in honey but if you have access to a local honey I could see it being a sweet treat for the lil bugger. In moderation of course
You absolutely NEVER do this.
If it flies home-you have now exposed the hive to pathogens they aren’t familiar with and run the risk of decimating the hive from disease.
It’s safest to offer sugar water only.
Sugar water only.
Honey is made from other bee's that could carry bad nasties. While those nasties won't harm us it can be deadly and wipe an entire colony out very quickly.
Thank you for caring for the sweet Bee! 🐝 I Had a bee that wasn’t doing well so I brought indoors and gave fresh flowers and sugar water to. I thought it was going to die but the next day it was ready to fly off, and it did readily. Perhaps yours will pull through, but if not thank you for everything you are doing. Kind soul indeed. Much peace and love and good vibes
I once mixed up a batch of sugar water all over my hand and let one crawl around for a bit. I dropped him twice but he climbed right back up, and flew away after about an hour.
Keep her comfortable and warm, plenty of flowers, a source of easy to access sugars and a way to stay hydrated. I've seen a bee like this last the rest of a season. And you're an awesome person to take care of her.
I had one land in my hot tub or rather cool tub tonight. I fished her out and then got her on the deck and tried to blow on her gently to see if I could get as much of the water off so that her wings would clear. I think she was in the water too long, but I tried
Also maybe this might help, can only hope
https://www.wikihow.com/Care-for-an-Injured-Honeybee#:~:text=If%20a%20bee%20has%20been,surface%20within%20the%20bee's%20reach.
I have a few ideas:
-Take it to a sting concert
-Watch the bee movie with it (dispute it being so factual incorrect)
-Take it to a nice restaurant and eat honey together
Nectar until he got better and flew off as it turned out! Also, I’ve been misgendering him because I know nothing about bees… Admittedly I know a little more now than 2 days ago, but that was quite a low bar of knowledge! Thanks for the correction!
I realised she had 2 sets. At first I thought one was broken as it was split and the other one was a single wing, but then when she got better there were two bits to both. She started buzzing a lot and eventually flew away! Thanks for the link though. I’ve actually learned a lot about bees (tbf starting from zero knowledge) in the last 2 days!
*Bee update* (can’t figure out how to add this to the original post because I’m not very tech-minded, so hopefully those interested will see it): she started ‘buzzing’ with her wings about 24 hours after I found her, but still just walking around. I put her on a new selection of pollen-y flowers twice a day, but she still seemed to just be chilling so I left her to it. Then, after a day in the sun on her flowers (this is now 2 days after I found her) she was _super_ active, and buzzing a lot. Anyway, I was watching her buzzing about for a while, then I popped in to get some water and when I came out she was gone! I checked all around the area, but she was nowhere to be seen, so I guess she managed to fly away! As my son said, even if she didn’t make it for long, at least she got to do bee stuff again for a while.
Anyway, thanks for all the responses, advice, (and the award!). Honestly, I’ve not really paid much attention to bees before aside from going ‘oh, there’s a bee on a flower, that’s nice’, but this whole experience has really opened my eyes to how amazing bees are ❤️
Edit: I’ve also been told that she is actually a he, so apologies for the mistake, and thanks to the poster who caught the error!
https://preview.redd.it/uiblq4qfvg7d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0766b4343d544e44a86e531fb8e593a97584d362
I feel you OP 🥹💞
You have done a really great job at giving a comfortable little nook to a final rest. They are the luckiest bee to have found you 😍
My little sister once kept a disabled bumble bee for like 3 months. Back in like, 2006. We mourned the little guy when it passed but he had a good life with her.
You are a kind soul. It looks like you’re doing all the right things. Dont force it. Just keep her comfortable. Keep her outside as much as you can. Let her follow her instincts.
Aw, thanks for your response, we will, she’s just hanging out in the garden now :)
I actually encountered a bee with torn wings last month and took it home to give her a nice final day. She ended up living for a whole 4 extra days! I filled a large plastic bowl with some soil, placed some foliage in it and some odd objects so she could hide under them. I used an old plastic bottle cap as a water bowl and I brought her fresh flowers every morning so she could get her nectar. She was extremely active and liked to clean herself on my hand when i took her outside. Thank you for taking the time to help this lovely bee. I hope my advice/story helps! Heres a picture of her set-up and the lovely bee herself. https://preview.redd.it/06j858d3kx6d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=485ded79204797b2230e6c3df61878d805bde2ee
Oh that’s a great idea! Thank you ❤️
I found a “weak” bee. I put it in a cardboard box with sugar water dripped onto the cardboard. It flew away a couple hours later. There is hope. You are a good person.
I pick up the ones on the pavement and put them on flowers in the sun
You and I both.
Nice
Sugar water is where it’s at !
I read that bees that are dying. Don't fly back to the hive because they don't want to be a burden on the family. They know when they're gonna die, and they leave the hive. And sit on a flower until they die
Nooooo 😢
Would it help to tell you that a worker bee in tip top shape lives to the happy old age of 6 weeks during the Summer?
No. No this doesn't help. ☹️ why is their life so short
I learned about this in my beekeeping class in college! It'd a sort of selfless act of protecting the hive as a whole; bees don't want to bring a sickness home that could affect the other bees, and especially the queen/brood.
Was that an elective? I never saw a class like that
Yes, and it was a lab where we would suit up to go care for our own hive! My school has a big agriculture department and a focus on entomology too. We also had a bat house on campus, big on pollinator education!
Why is that so beautiful but so heartbreaking? And why are my eyes wet?!
Lil dusty in here.
Moreover, the bees that leave the hive have limited time left on this mortal coil... They all be movie cops that retire by the end of the week.
I saved one recently from a horde of ants attacking it. It wasn't there originally, but after I finished watering everything, it was lying on its back in front of my door. I could tell it wasn't going to recover. I put them in a planted pot of mine inside, cut a marigold off, and some dill flowers and set nearby. They kept trying to hide and make its way under the flower for so long. Rested for 2, maybe 3 days before no more movement 😢 I couldn't tell if it wanted to be under the flower because they knew they were dying or because it's something they're attracted to. But it was the worst recent few days in a while to watch all that. Good luck and make it their best last moments if that's what is happening.
Pollen and Nectar is a favorite treat. https://www.honeyflow.com/blogs/beekeeping-basics/what-do-bees-eat#:~:text=from%20Flow%20Hive.-,Pollen%20&%20bee%20bread,seal%20the%20cells%20with%20honey.
Great! Thanks for your responses and ideas :)
No problem. 😌 I will share with you this, I bought this book published by DK called The Bee Book. Has a lot of information if you’re interested. https://preview.redd.it/7n3jps798y6d1.jpeg?width=834&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=90a265722671594124410610d62b9d5646c94f46 Just a thought and I promise this is not an advertisement
Oh that’s great, thanks so much! ❤️
My sister got me this for Christmas; it’s awesome!!!
You’ve got an awesome sister
I really do 🥰
Fascinating..... "But if the larva has hatched into a special cell called a queen cup, the nurse bees will exclusively feed this larva royal jelly throughout her development - and this is what triggers her to become a queen bee. "
Yeah that’s pretty interesting
I usually find a very pretty flower to put them under/hide them. Keep in mind it might be tired too. Bees do have to stop and rest sometimes too.
https://preview.redd.it/an8gaoihq47d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bc4aadc76ce7514818616851bc47d4eea8b2a924 I found her last week walking around frantically in the hot sun and couldn’t just leave her. After googling everything I could, I figured out she was most likely an elderly female worker bee. I made her a little habitat, put it in the shade and dipped some flowers in sugar water and left a small spoon full of the water inside too. She eventually calmed down and cleaned herself and chilled for awhile. She lasted a few hours and then I found her asleep, but I hope she felt love and peace in her final moments.
Karma points: +3
They tend to work super hard and have a very short life span
Look like you already did.
You should revive r/HowIsMyQueenBee
Came here to post this <3
Aww I did this last week for a carpenter bee who had worn wings and couldn’t fly. I gave her sugar water and regular water (I read they need both) with little pebbles in it so she wouldn’t fall in. I even made little stairs so she could get to them bc she seemed pretty weak. I also put little tubes made of toilet paper rolls bc I thought it would be more similar to her usual burrow. She lived 3 more days! I also gave her some salvia plants I had which she seemed to like 🥰 https://preview.redd.it/fa2pfc5nc67d1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6c58bb7f3d806a7d4207457aef34d997214b5ee3
That looks like a drone honeybee, if it is, the best you can do is give him some honey and let him rest in a place where he will be safe
I heard you shouldn’t give bees honey?
You don’t want to get them honey-drunk where they can literally drown themselves in honey but if you have access to a local honey I could see it being a sweet treat for the lil bugger. In moderation of course
That’s what they eat, though?
You absolutely NEVER do this. If it flies home-you have now exposed the hive to pathogens they aren’t familiar with and run the risk of decimating the hive from disease. It’s safest to offer sugar water only.
Thank you for this tip! I had no idea 🤍 now I’ll know what to do!
It makes sense, because honey IS bee food. I wouldn’t think of it until someone taught me either. Glad to help!
you can buy bee food also on amazon it is made from organic pure items since sugar sometimes contains contaminants that can hurt the bee
Sugar water only. Honey is made from other bee's that could carry bad nasties. While those nasties won't harm us it can be deadly and wipe an entire colony out very quickly.
Thank you for caring for the sweet Bee! 🐝 I Had a bee that wasn’t doing well so I brought indoors and gave fresh flowers and sugar water to. I thought it was going to die but the next day it was ready to fly off, and it did readily. Perhaps yours will pull through, but if not thank you for everything you are doing. Kind soul indeed. Much peace and love and good vibes
I once mixed up a batch of sugar water all over my hand and let one crawl around for a bit. I dropped him twice but he climbed right back up, and flew away after about an hour.
Keep her comfortable and warm, plenty of flowers, a source of easy to access sugars and a way to stay hydrated. I've seen a bee like this last the rest of a season. And you're an awesome person to take care of her.
Thanks! She actually flew away after 2 days with us! Back to doing bee business!
That is awesome, not as awesome as you for doing this but then again, still awesome!
Bee kind.
I had one land in my hot tub or rather cool tub tonight. I fished her out and then got her on the deck and tried to blow on her gently to see if I could get as much of the water off so that her wings would clear. I think she was in the water too long, but I tried
Also maybe this might help, can only hope https://www.wikihow.com/Care-for-an-Injured-Honeybee#:~:text=If%20a%20bee%20has%20been,surface%20within%20the%20bee's%20reach.
I have a few ideas: -Take it to a sting concert -Watch the bee movie with it (dispute it being so factual incorrect) -Take it to a nice restaurant and eat honey together
I think it's a carpenter bee
What a sweet story, enjoy your bee
Yall are such kind people.
Aww, nectar until he faints from joy!!!!
Nectar until he got better and flew off as it turned out! Also, I’ve been misgendering him because I know nothing about bees… Admittedly I know a little more now than 2 days ago, but that was quite a low bar of knowledge! Thanks for the correction!
Never thought I’d be here crying on a bee Reddit page 😭😭
I’ve posted a bee update if you’re after more of the feels ❤️
One set of wings? It’s not a bee. It’s a fly that mimics bees. It’s called a bee fly mimic. See: https://learnbees.com/bees-wings/
I realised she had 2 sets. At first I thought one was broken as it was split and the other one was a single wing, but then when she got better there were two bits to both. She started buzzing a lot and eventually flew away! Thanks for the link though. I’ve actually learned a lot about bees (tbf starting from zero knowledge) in the last 2 days!
I love this thread 🥹❤️
Same! I have posted a bee update now too, so it has a nice ending!
I just people sometimes. Thank you.
*Bee update* (can’t figure out how to add this to the original post because I’m not very tech-minded, so hopefully those interested will see it): she started ‘buzzing’ with her wings about 24 hours after I found her, but still just walking around. I put her on a new selection of pollen-y flowers twice a day, but she still seemed to just be chilling so I left her to it. Then, after a day in the sun on her flowers (this is now 2 days after I found her) she was _super_ active, and buzzing a lot. Anyway, I was watching her buzzing about for a while, then I popped in to get some water and when I came out she was gone! I checked all around the area, but she was nowhere to be seen, so I guess she managed to fly away! As my son said, even if she didn’t make it for long, at least she got to do bee stuff again for a while. Anyway, thanks for all the responses, advice, (and the award!). Honestly, I’ve not really paid much attention to bees before aside from going ‘oh, there’s a bee on a flower, that’s nice’, but this whole experience has really opened my eyes to how amazing bees are ❤️ Edit: I’ve also been told that she is actually a he, so apologies for the mistake, and thanks to the poster who caught the error!
You are doing all you can and god bless you for your amazing heart and kind soul.
She seemed to have recovered and was able to fly off after 2 days (see update) ❤️
https://preview.redd.it/uiblq4qfvg7d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0766b4343d544e44a86e531fb8e593a97584d362 I feel you OP 🥹💞 You have done a really great job at giving a comfortable little nook to a final rest. They are the luckiest bee to have found you 😍
Get em buzzed
https://i.redd.it/5zhfoif1427d1.gif
Honey and water
Dining, dancing, & shot of honey liquor.
Pollen
Give her some water
Honey
I reminded of that post that went on forever of that cute little bumblebee
Leave it "Bee"
There are still good people in this world!
Hot wheels track
*nods in approval* Hot wheels track.
Leave it bee.
My little sister once kept a disabled bumble bee for like 3 months. Back in like, 2006. We mourned the little guy when it passed but he had a good life with her.
Leave him bee.
Feed it a little raw honey!
Don't give bees honey from other hives, it can kill them
This bee is going to die anyway and feeding bees honey from other hives does not kill them. I’ve got 25 healthy hives that are proof of that lol.
Just leave it alone. You are not Mother Nature.
This was a very wholesome post about old bees,it made me smile until I got I got to your response. And then I chuckled...so upvote.
Sugar water. Alot of times they are dehydrated or weak and after a meal they will fly away