Not Honey Bees

Jan was supposed to come by about 7 tonight to pick up the bees but I called her at 6:30, wondering if we should wait longer since they were still flying around. She said they generally stop flying around 55 degrees F and it was 54 where she was at. She decided to stop for dinner to give them time to all return to the hive. She ended up arriving around 7:45. She got all suited up and bagged up the bird house. As she was getting ready to take the bird house down a few stragglers were returning. She looked at them closely and said they were not honey bees, but striped bumblebees! I had never seen striped bumblebees or if I did I just assumed they were honey bees since the bee identification card did not have any striped bumblebees on it. I told her I thought they were honey bees because I saw honey combs in the bird house, she said bumblebees also make honey combs, though not nearly as much as honey bees. Learn something new every day! In the end we decided to leave the bumblebees here, they're natives that have little habitat in the city and they only make enough honey to keep the hive going through their annual life cycle so there is nothing to harvest. Jan went away empty-handed but at least we got to visit for a little while.

Jan in her bee suit, getting ready to remove the bees

At 8:30 pm the bumblebees were still returning to the nest. It was 52 degrees. I guess the bumblebees are like the mason bees, hardy natives that fly at lower temperatures than the non-native European honey bees. Jan said they are also more industrious workers than the honey bees. I will research them later and find out exactly what kind of bees they are. I hope the next owners of this house appreciate native bees as much as I do. After all, they will be helping the mason bees pollinate the Asian pears, cherries, apples and blueberries; not to mention any vegetable crops they might decide to grow that need pollinators.

This morning when I called Mom to remind her to take her alendronate I got careless. She had been doing so well I forgot to say, "Its the one with the green cap." So she took her morning pills, the one on the "pink side". Which then meant she could not take her alendronate since she is supposed to take it on an empty stomach at least 30 minutes before eating or taking any other medication. I will have to remember that for the future.

Happy Birthday to Chuck, Jack, Meira, Donna, Alika, and Amy!