Carly81
New Bee
Hi all, I'm not a bee keeper, on purpose(!) but I found what I think is a buff tailed bumblebee queen, & I need advice please.
It was walking about on stones in the garden, barely moving, it couldn't fly and I tried leading it to holes in the soil but it wasn't interested, so as it was getting dark I took it and put it in a ventilated tub with some straw & moss & dirt, planning on releasing it the next day. I have a bottle of bee revival syrup but it didn't want any at that point.
The next day it was moving more, and I offered it syrup but it wasn't interested yet, I took it outside as it was sunny but it still wasn't going anywhere. There are no flowers in the garden but some under 10 minutes away so I picked some to bring back & it was interested in them. It was trying to fly but couldn't get airborne. I ended up taking it back in eventually as didn't want to leave it when it couldn't fly & there's no flowers nearby to walk to & I wanted to release it close to where it was. It has had more flowers and has ate syrup since then, and again whenever there's sun in the afternoon when it's warmer I took it outside, but even when I put it on the ground or grass it tries to fly but can't get flight. It's wings look fine, & there are some mites on it's body but don't look like hundreds or enough to weight it down, so I don't know if it's just been the weather isn't suitable to fly. It seems OK otherwise, it was interested in the flowers, moving faster, washing itself, drinking water, & sleeping a lot too. It seems it's been too weak the first warm day to fly, and though it's taken syrup since the weather has been cloudy, or if there's sun it's still been colder or today was windy, that's 3 days now.
I'm worried as we have snow warnings on the way, I don't know whether it's best to just let it walk off when it could be too cold/maybe die (temperatures could get to -15!) or basically keep it until the weather is warmer again and release it then? Basically I don't want to leave it to die, or annoy it by keeping it. Can anyone advise please?
It was walking about on stones in the garden, barely moving, it couldn't fly and I tried leading it to holes in the soil but it wasn't interested, so as it was getting dark I took it and put it in a ventilated tub with some straw & moss & dirt, planning on releasing it the next day. I have a bottle of bee revival syrup but it didn't want any at that point.
The next day it was moving more, and I offered it syrup but it wasn't interested yet, I took it outside as it was sunny but it still wasn't going anywhere. There are no flowers in the garden but some under 10 minutes away so I picked some to bring back & it was interested in them. It was trying to fly but couldn't get airborne. I ended up taking it back in eventually as didn't want to leave it when it couldn't fly & there's no flowers nearby to walk to & I wanted to release it close to where it was. It has had more flowers and has ate syrup since then, and again whenever there's sun in the afternoon when it's warmer I took it outside, but even when I put it on the ground or grass it tries to fly but can't get flight. It's wings look fine, & there are some mites on it's body but don't look like hundreds or enough to weight it down, so I don't know if it's just been the weather isn't suitable to fly. It seems OK otherwise, it was interested in the flowers, moving faster, washing itself, drinking water, & sleeping a lot too. It seems it's been too weak the first warm day to fly, and though it's taken syrup since the weather has been cloudy, or if there's sun it's still been colder or today was windy, that's 3 days now.
I'm worried as we have snow warnings on the way, I don't know whether it's best to just let it walk off when it could be too cold/maybe die (temperatures could get to -15!) or basically keep it until the weather is warmer again and release it then? Basically I don't want to leave it to die, or annoy it by keeping it. Can anyone advise please?