#savingbees
#theBeeAt3
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 174.
Over 75% of the 115 leading crop species are dependent upon/benefit from animal pollination. Only 28 of these 115 crop species are wind & self-pollinated.
We need #bees #insects #birds #animals.
We need to realise this.
Fast.
#beesanctuaryireland #bumblebees #solitarybees #CommonCarder
#nature #naturephotography #vegan
#organic #savingbees #food
Mornin’.
“Because all #bees are equal and equally in trouble, aren’t they?”
Aren’t they?
The UN tells us it’s #WorldBeeDay today. But they ought to tell us the truth about saving bees as well.
Thanks to @LauraByrneStory and @TheJournal for having me!
C is for…
Cosmos, Corbiculae and Common
Cosmos - an annual flower much loved by #bees
Corbiculae - the pollen baskets on the rear legs of some bees used to carry pollen back to the nest.
Common - as in the most ‘Irish’ of #bumblebees, the ginger haired Common Carder.
#beealphabet #nature #organic #vegan #naturereserve #naturephotography
#wicklow #ireland #socialenterprise #savingbees
Mornin’.
Blackthorn be flowering.
Birds be singing.
Bees be happy.
Have a great one!
#blackthorn #bees #bumblebees #nature #beesanctuaryireland
#hedgerows #ditches
#trees #savingbees
#organic #vegan #habitat
Here’s a
#MondayMorningMoment
with
#nature
here on
The Bee Sanctuary of Ireland.
Take a moment.
#pause
Go do some #good.
Have the best week you can.
If you’re not having a good week - tell someone.
And if someone tells you -
Listen.
Really #listen.
#mentalhealth
#beesanctuaryireland #bees
#dandelions #bumblebees #wildflowers
#naturephotography #savingbees #gentle #consideration #talk
#wellbeing #vegan #organic #kindness
Yesterdays fact.
Sorry we were otherwise distracted.
Still relevant though!
😊🐝
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 129.
Buzz pollination - in brief.
Bees rapidly contract their flight muscles. This produces powerful vibrations which they channel to the flower using their legs/mouths.
Result = a #pollen explosion all over the bee.
Happy bee!
#bees #beesofmastodon #bumblebees
#buzzpollination #nature
#naturephotography
#vegan #organic #savingbees
Thanks for reading/caring.
PLEASE boost this forward.
The more informed, the more queens survive and the more #bumblebees we have.
Simple.
Our native wild #bees are in trouble and we need to be there for them every way we can.
Thanks again for helping!
Have a great one. 8/8
🙏🏼🐝
#bees #beesofmastodon
#nature #beesanctuaryireland #hibernation #savingbees #vegan #organic #spring #share #bee #help
#naturephotography #pollinators #boost
Usually once she takes on some sugars and heats up she’ll happily fly off.
Don’t bring her indoors for long periods! If she has already established a nest and laid eggs she needs to get back to sit on them before they cool down. 7/8
#bees #beesofmastodon #bumblebees
#nature #beesanctuaryireland #hibernation #savingbees #vegan #organic #spring #share #bee #help
#naturephotography #pollinators #boost
In this case preference is to move her to a nearby source of #nectar - a #flower! If no flowers are nearby she can be offered a 50/50 mix of white sugar and water.
NEVER offer her honey as although it would seem to be the obvious action honey can contain pathogens that may be harmful to #bumblebees 6/8
#bees #beesofmastodon
#nature #beesanctuaryireland #hibernation #savingbees #vegan #organic #spring #share #bee #help
#naturephotography #pollinators #boost
As with sleeping dogs leave resting bees lie - for up to an hour before intervening. (Unless of course she is in imminent danger whereby she should be carefully moved to a safe place). If after about an hour she is still present then she may need assistance. 5/8
#bees #beesofmastodon #bumblebees
#nature #beesanctuaryireland #hibernation #savingbees #vegan #organic #spring #share #bee #help
#naturephotography #pollinators #boost
These between flight stopovers can last for up to an hour and #bees are not always careful about where they take them - sometimes the middle of a footpath can be the ‘ideal’ spot!
So if you see a big #bumblebee chilling on the ground don’t always presume she needs rescuing! 4/8
#bumblebees #beesofmastodon
#nature #beesanctuaryireland #hibernation #savingbees #vegan #organic #spring #share #bee #help
#naturephotography #pollinators #boost
Hence you will observe queens flying low to the ground zig-zagging across the landscape - they’re house-hunting. Stopping to explore in long grass and vegetation, hollows in trees, stone walls, under sheds and even compost heaps. During this time bumblebee queens spend a lot of their time resting between flights. 3/8
#bees #bumblebees #beesofmastodon
#nature #beesanctuaryireland #hibernation #savingbees #vegan #organic #spring #share #bee #help
#naturephotography
Bumblebee queens emerge in early spring from hibernation and immediately need to feed - that’s why early flowering plants are so important. Apart from feeding, their mission at this time is to find a suitable site to establish a nest. 2/8
#bees #beesofmastodon
#nature #beesanctuaryireland #hibernation #savingbees #vegan #organic #spring #share #bee #help
#naturephotography #pollinators #boost
Thanks for reading/caring.
PLEASE boost this forward.
The more informed, the more queens survive and the more #bumblebees we have.
Simple.
Our native wild #bees are in trouble and we need to be there for them every way we can.
Thanks again for helping!
Have a great one. 8/8
🙏🏼🐝
#bees #beesofmastodon
#nature #beesanctuaryireland #hibernation #savingbees #vegan #organic #spring #share #bee #help
#naturephotography #pollinators #boost
Usually once she takes on some sugars and heats up she’ll happily fly off.
Don’t bring her indoors for long periods! If she has already established a nest and laid eggs she needs to get back to sit on them before they cool down. 7/8
#bees #beesofmastodon #bumblebees
#nature #beesanctuaryireland #hibernation #savingbees #vegan #organic #spring #share #bee #help
#naturephotography #pollinators #boost
In this case preference is to move her to a nearby source of #nectar - a #flower! If no flowers are nearby she can be offered a 50/50 mix of white sugar and water.
NEVER offer her honey as although it would seem to be the obvious action honey can contain pathogens that may be harmful to #bumblebees 6/8
#bees #beesofmastodon
#nature #beesanctuaryireland #hibernation #savingbees #vegan #organic #spring #share #bee #help
#naturephotography #pollinators #boost
As with sleeping dogs leave resting bees lie - for up to an hour before intervening. (Unless of course she is in imminent danger whereby she should be carefully moved to a safe place). If after about an hour she is still present then she may need assistance. 5/8
#bees #beesofmastodon #bumblebees
#nature #beesanctuaryireland #hibernation #savingbees #vegan #organic #spring #share #bee #help
#naturephotography #pollinators #boost
These between flight stopovers can last for up to an hour and #bees are not always careful about where they take them - sometimes the middle of a footpath can be the ‘ideal’ spot!
So if you see a big #bumblebee chilling on the ground don’t always presume she needs rescuing! 4/8
#bumblebees #beesofmastodon
#nature #beesanctuaryireland #hibernation #savingbees #vegan #organic #spring #share #bee #help
#naturephotography #pollinators #boost
Hence you will observe queens flying low to the ground zig-zagging across the landscape - they’re house-hunting. Stopping to explore in long grass and vegetation, hollows in trees, stone walls, under sheds and even compost heaps. During this time bumblebee queens spend a lot of their time resting between flights. 3/8
#bees #bumblebees #beesofmastodon
#nature #beesanctuaryireland #hibernation #savingbees #vegan #organic #spring #share #bee #help
#naturephotography
Bumblebee queens emerge in early spring from hibernation and immediately need to feed - that’s why early flowering plants are so important. Apart from feeding, their mission at this time is to find a suitable site to establish a nest. 2/8
#bees #beesofmastodon
#nature #beesanctuaryireland #hibernation #savingbees #vegan #organic #spring #share #bee #help
#naturephotography #pollinators #boost
Mornin’.
Many people asking us about #bumblebees at the moment - why they’re seeing them on the ground - so what follows is a quick series of toots to explain what they’re up to. Please #boost as every #queen bumblebee that survives means a new colony that gets to exist and produce new queen bees for next year! 1/8
🙏🏼🐝
#bees #beesofmastodon
#nature #beesanctuaryireland #hibernation #savingbees #vegan #organic #spring #share #bee #help
#naturephotography #pollinators
https://savingbees.ie
Good afternoon.
Pause.
Spend a moment with a shower soaked wee mining bee.
You’ll be better for it.
Quick fact: Of the 20,000 or so bee species on the #planet over 90% are #solitarybees.
#bees #miningbees
#savingbees #nature
#beesofmastodon
#NaturePhotography
#beesoftwitter #gwynnes
#pollinators #vegan #organic
Another day.
Another bee fact.
A reassuring constant in a fickle world.
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 127.
In the UK an army sniffer dog trained to locate #bumblebee nests was able to very accurately find nests of a range of bumblebee species - suggesting that colonies of different bumblebee species emit a similar smell.
#beesofmastodon #bees #bee
#beesanctuaryireland #savingbees #naturephotography #organic #vegan
#bumblebees #nature
School’s Out!
The kids rock.
Best question: who looks after the baby eggs when the queen is out foraging? Genuine caring and thoughtfulness!
@thebeegirl smashed it!🏟
The Bonnie and Clyde of bee advocacy!😎😂 Bad but loveable.
#bees #bumblebees #outreach #advocacy #beesanctuaryireland
#savingbees #nature #vegan #organic
Yesterday’s fact today just before today’s fact today.
Makes perfect sense.
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 125.
Bumblebee nests are notoriously difficult to find in the #wild.
This can hinder population surveys of #bumblebee species as nest density is used as an indicator of populations.
#bees #bumblebees #bee
#beesofmastodon #nature #NaturePhotography #savingbees
#beesanctuaryireland
We’re going back to #school to talk bees!
Don’t venture off the sanctuary much - sure why would I?
Make an exception when someone wants to hear about #bees from us though.
Wish us luck.
Under 12s know how to heckle with the best of them!
😂🐝
#advocacy #outreach
#savingbees #nature #beesanctuaryireland
#bumblebees #knowledge
#sharing #caring
Yesterday’s fact as we couldn’t get to you…sorry!
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 124.
There are more species of bee on the #planet than the combined total of mammal and bird species.
There are over 20,000 species of #bees.
Around 6,500 species of #mammals and 10,000 species of #birds have been described.
#bee #solitarybee #ashyminingbee
#beesofmastodon #nature
#savingbees #naturephotography
#beesanctuaryireland #naturereserve
#pollinators
We have ways of making you flower!
This is mad!
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 109.
Recent research suggests that if food is scarce hungry #bumblebees will chew on plant leaves - not to eat them - but to stress the plant causing it to #flower thus providing earlier #pollen for the bees.
Chew on that! 🤯
#beesofmastodon #bees
#beesanctuaryireland #beesanctuary #solitarybees #savingbees #science #naturephotography
#nature #organic #vegan
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 108.
Research found that tomato plants flowered up to 30 days earlier in response to their leaves being chewed by hungry #bumblebees.
When this behaviour was mimicked by cutting the leaves they only flowered 5 days earlier!
🍅🐝🤯
#beesofmastodon #bees
#beesanctuaryireland #beesanctuary #solitarybees #savingbees #science #naturephotography
#nature #organic #vegan
What even time is it?
We don’t know if we’re late or not.
Stop messing with the clocks!⏰😠
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 123.
For #bumblebees the size of their antennae matters!
Bigger #bees with bigger antennae have greater sensitivity to odours. Large #antennae can catch more odour molecules & so are more sensitive to odours than small antennae.
#beesofmastodon #bee
#beesanctuaryireland #savingbees #naturephotography #organic #vegan
#nature
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 107.
Unlike females, male bumblebees do not perform learning flights on leaving the nest. They fly directly away never looking back.
😢
They do however perform learning flights on leaving flowers to memorise location.
#bee #beesofmastodon #bees
#beesanctuaryireland #beesanctuary #solitarybees #savingbees #science #naturephotography
#nature #organic #vegan #bumblebees
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 106.
Female bees perform ‘learning flights’ where they memorise features of an important site.
They look back to ‘fixate’ the site as they leave. Learning flights occur on first departing their nest and newly found #flowers.
#bee #beesofmastodon #bees
#beesanctuaryireland #beesanctuary #solitarybees #savingbees #science #naturephotography
#nature #organic #vegan #bumblebees
What’s 30 minutes late when we are contemplating 130 million years of existence and evolution?
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 122.
Bees foraged amongst dinosaurs.
Ponder that…in the context of our consequence.
#beesofmastodon #bees #bee
#beesanctuaryireland #savingbees #naturephotography #organic #vegan
#bumblebees #nature #dinosaurs
#science #fun #think #time
When you leave in a hurry but have that niggling feeling that you forgot something so you go back to check…
🙄
We’re not that different!
And yes it’s more bees on dandelions content.
Get used to it.
Happening until the message gets through!
#bees #dandelions
#bumblebee #queen
#beesofmastodon #savingbees
#nature #naturephotography
#beesanctuaryireland #fun #science
https://savingbees.ie
Our queen #palmtree blooms every other month and hundreds of bees get to work. Fortunately the blooms are 15-20 feet over our heads so we are not a disturbance.
@thebeeguy@mastadon.ie
#bumblebees #beesofmastodon
#savingbees #beesanctuaryireland #pollinators #nature #naturephotography #bee #insects
#science #fun #bees
Mornin’.
Warning: Dandelion Agenda!
When in your #garden would you stand on a #daffodil?
THEN DON’T STAND ON A DANDELION EITHER!
Dandelions are vital.
Daffodils are cosmetic - all show. Apart from the old #wild variety the goodness has been bred out of them.
Boost for bees? 🙏🏼
#bumblebees #beesofmastodon
#savingbees #beesanctuaryireland #pollinators #wildflowers #nature
#naturephotography #bee #insects
#science #fun #naturereserve #bees
#dandelions
https://savingbees.ie
Your daily dose of royalty.
She be fairly hogging that #dandelion.
Owning it.
And finishes with a Back Handspring Two Feet Back Tuck Dismount if I’m not mistaken.
😊🐝🤸♂️
#bees #bumblebees #pollinators #nature #organic #naturephotography
#savingbees #vegan
#beesanctuaryireland
#wildflowers #beesofmastodon
Late again.
We’ll keep an eye on that.😎🙄
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 105.
Bees are able to navigate using the polarised light patterns in the sky by virtue of their 3 ‘simple eyes’ or ocelli which are positioned on top of the head between their 2 larger compound eyes.
So 5 eyes in all!
👀
#bee #beesofmastodon #bees
#beesanctuaryireland #beesanctuary #solitarybees #savingbees #science #naturephotography
#nature #organic #vegan #bumblebees
What time is it?
It’s bee time!
Precisely.
Have a great weekend people.
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 121.
Even within the same colony not all bees spend the same amount of time actively foraging for #pollen and #nectar.
Bees that spend more time foraging tend to have shorter lifespans than those bees that forage less often.
#beesofmastodon #bees #bee
#beesanctuaryireland #savingbees #naturephotography #organic #vegan
#bumblebees #nature
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 104.
Bumblebees are able to start foraging earlier in the morning and continue until later in the evening when landmarks aren’t visible as they can use the polarised light of the sky as a GPS for guidance to their nest!
🤯
#bee #beesofmastodon #bees
#beesanctuaryireland #beesanctuary #solitarybees #savingbees #science #naturephotography
#nature #organic #vegan #bumblebees
Don’t spray chemicals in your space.
Designed to kill and that’s exactly what they do.
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 120.
In 1945, the American Chemical Paint Company released the first US ‘residential herbicide’ 2,4-D which had been developed during WW2 as a chemical weapon to wipe out potatoes in Germany and rice in Japan.
#beesofmastodon #bees #bee
#beesanctuaryireland #savingbees #naturephotography #organic #vegan
#bumblebees #poison
Not to be outdone by the bumbles showing up yesterday this little guy put in an appearance today. Hanging around in the cold and rain waiting for the girls to show up he seemed happy for the warmth of human skin for a while.
#solitarybees #miningbees
#bees #beesanctuaryireland
#beesofmastodon #nature #savingbees
#bee #naturephotography #beesanctuary #wild #pollinators
Another #bumblebee queen foraging on #dandelions (of course!) here today.
Queens are more cautious in their foraging behaviour than workers and males - that explains why she doesn’t hang around for the camera!
So great to hear that hum about the place again after hibernation.
#bees #bumblebees #beesofmastodon
#savingbees #beesanctuary #beesanctuaryireland #nature
#dandelion #wildflower #spring
#naturephotography
Keeping it real this week!
Don’t spray chemicals in your space.
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 119.
In the US in the 1950s, a chemical company and producer of #grass seed, in order to promote a weed killer, launched a PR campaign declaring white #clover a weed.
It wasn’t.
It isn’t.
Chemical weed killers are #poison
PR that.
#beesofmastodon #bees #bee
#beesanctuaryireland #savingbees #naturephotography #organic #vegan
#bumblebees #whiteclover
Bumblebees are go!
And where do they go?
To the dandelions of course!
First foraging queen bumblebee of the year spotted on a dandelion here on The Bee Sanctuary of Ireland just minutes ago.
She wasn’t for hanging about though.
Welcome back Your Majesties.
This is on!
#bees #bee #beesofmastodon
#beesanctuaryireland #beesanctuary
#bumblebees #nature #savingbees
#organic #vegan #wildflowers
#naturephotography #pollinators
#queenbee #naturereserve #dandelions
https://savingbees.ie
I’m ah very ah particular and ah peculiar about the ah company ah keep - he contemplates in a slow purposeful Louisiana drawl.
Didn’t know this was being aired today…will let you know when it’s on player if you’ve an hour to waste. Music’s good.😎
Early!
We just couldn’t wait to bring you this clip. What a stunning #bee on such a vivid flower.
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 118.
#Bumblebees leave a scent mark (a sticky secretion) behind whenever they land on #flowers and can distinguish between their own scent marks, those left by fellow nest-mates and those left behind by #bees from other colonies.
#beesofmastodon
#beesanctuaryireland #savingbees #naturephotography #organic #vegan
Late?
Yep!
Do I care?
About bees - yep!
About the planet -yep!
About punctuality - nope!
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 114.
#Bees consume large amounts of oxygen but don’t breathe through noses or mouths.
Instead they draw oxygen in through holes along their bodies known as spiracles and deliver it directly to tissue and muscles.
#beesofmastodon #bee
#beesanctuaryireland #beesanctuary #solitarybees #savingbees #organic #naturephotography
We have ways of making you flower!
This is mad!
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 109.
Recent research suggests that if food is scarce hungry #bumblebees will chew on plant leaves - not to eat them - but to stress the plant causing it to #flower thus providing earlier #pollen for the bees.
Chew on that! 🤯
#beesofmastodon #bees
#beesanctuaryireland #beesanctuary #solitarybees #savingbees #science #naturephotography
#nature #organic #vegan
Pesticides kill. They’re designed to.
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 103.
An important reminder as we get active in our gardens this time of year:
Most store bought plants contain a cocktail of insecticides/fungicides that kill and are harmful to bees, #insects and #soil.
This needs to change.
https://savingbees.ie
#bee #beesofmastodon #bees
#beesanctuaryireland #beesanctuary #solitarybees #savingbees #science #naturephotography
#nature #organic #vegan #bumblebees
Mornin’.
Listen to this guy…
Check out https://savingbees.ie
Make saving bees your mission this year.
They need you.
Please share.
We wouldn’t ask if we didn’t need to.
Thank you.
#bees #savingbees #bumblebees #solitarybees
#dogood #nature
#beesanctuaryireland
#beesanctuary #organic #vegan
Late?
We’ve been called worse.
😎🤌
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 93.
Unlike honey bees, bumblebees usually only collect and store sufficient food in the nest to feed the colony for a couple of days.
So bumblebee colonies are never more than a few days from starvation.
Grow them wildflowers.
Masses of them.
#bee #bees #beesofmastodon
#beesanctuaryireland #beesanctuary
#bumblebees #solitarybees #gardening
#nature #organic #vegan #savingbees
#pollinators #fun #flowers
More frogs.
Making.
More frogs.
(We did warn you that there would be a lot of frog content here at the moment as they are only active in this manner for a matter of a few days a year - bee content will resume as normal as soon as the little feckers wake up!).
#frogs #frogsofmastodon #herpetology
#bees #beesanctuaryireland #savingbees #nature #sanctuary #water #organic #vegan #good #naturephotography #frogspawn #wildlifephotography #wildlife
Late?
Yes.
Excuse?
We’re working on it.
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 87.
Bee brains are smaller than a sesame seed and have less than 1 million neurons (we have 86 billion).
They are however highly intelligent - can add/subtract, get the concept of zero, solve puzzles and recognise faces.
#bee #bees #beesofmastodon
#beesanctuaryireland #beesanctuary
#bumblebees #solitarybees #gardening
#nature #organic #vegan #savingbees
#pollinators #fun
This is becoming a habit.
Being early that is!
The facts are already a habit.
You know it.
😎
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 82.
Pollen ‘safe sites’ exist on bee bodies which can’t be reached when grooming (the waist/dorsal area of thorax/abdomen).
The anthers/stigmas of flowers regularly come into contact with these parts ensuring pollination.
#bee #bees #beesofmastodon
#beesanctuaryireland #beesanctuary
#bumblebees #solitarybees
#nature #organic #vegan #savingbees
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 66.
One of the ways in which bumblebee queens maintain their dominance in the nest is by periodically head-butting the more dominant female workers.
We’re not so different really are we?
#bees #bee #beesofmastodon
#beesanctuaryireland #beesanctuary
#bumblebees #solitarybees
#naturereserve #pollinators #wicklow
#nature #organic #vegan #savingbees #photography
Late…but worth the wait!
😊
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 77.
So from the last few facts - female bumblebee workers are better at all tasks - so why then are there small workers?
Small workers are vital as they are more resilient to starvation: a colony insurance policy of sorts in case of #nectar shortage.
#bee #bees #beesofmastodon
#beesanctuaryireland #beesanctuary
#bumblebees #solitarybees
#naturereserve
#nature #organic #vegan #savingbees
Three facts in one day.
Hope it’s not too much to handle!🐝😊
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 70.
Solitary Bee stings are not as strong as those of larger social bees.
Having no large nests to defend these bees only need enough ‘sting’ to fend off the odd rival or an attack by other insects.
Only female bees sting.
#bees #bee #beesofmastodon
#beesanctuaryireland #beesanctuary
#bumblebees #solitarybees
#naturereserve #pollinators
#nature #organic #vegan #savingbees
Yesterday’s fact today as yesterday’s broadband is only working today!
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 63.
UK based research examining a selection of store bought ‘bee friendly’ plants showed that the majority of them had been treated with a cocktail of #pesticides/fungicides & were actually harmful to bees/#butterflies/#insects.
#bees #bee #beesofmastodon
#beesanctuaryireland #beesanctuary
#bumblebees #solitarybees
#naturereserve
#nature #organic #vegan #savingbees
Male bumblebees: genuine mama’s boys!
Good afternoon.
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 58.
Male bumblebees develop from unfertilised eggs.
They have no father.
100% of their genes will be in common with their mother - the queen.
They also have no stinger!
#bees #bee #beesofmastodon
#beesanctuaryireland #beesanctuary
#bumblebees #solitarybees
#nature #organic #vegan #savingbees
#naturereserve #thistle