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Gardeners Told to Give Exhausted Bees an Energy Drink
In an effort to help Britain's declining bee population, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds is urging gardeners to leave out a homemade energy drink for tired bees. The RSPB says that a mix of two tablespoons of sugar with a tablespoon of water makes a perfect bee-boosting drink. Val Osborne, head of wildlife inquiries at the RSPB, said, "Many people keep seeing bees on the ground and assume they are dead, but chances are they are having a rest. Much like us, a sugary drink could boost their energy levels and a simple sugar and water combination will be a welcome treat."
The bees will have trouble sleeping at night and by the end of the week they will be in a barely conscious stupor.
Trust me.
Maybe they need an extra set of wings?
This is an ex-bee!
I've always kind of wanted to see bees sucking on some Bawls, does that make me abnormal?
DISCLAIMER: I am very rarely serious. If the above comment seems asinine makes no sense, it is most likely a bad joke.
Next thing you know we will be complaining about a diabetic and obese bee population.
GO BLUE!
Such a beautiful picture of a bee and a dandilion...and on slashdot. Awwww.
Yellow jackets are protein eaters (other bugs, roadkill). They don't make honey. In the late summer / early fall they lose their normal food sources and they start going after carbohydrates -- sugary soda and pretty much anything on the picnic table.
They're also super aggressive at that time of year and can sting repeatedly. Which is why I hang a yellow jacket trap to kill as many as possible. 10 in the last day!
my Unlce used to keep bees, before he became allergic to them. leaving sugar water was always SOP. especially during those times of years when flowering was low.
i really dislike this bee paranoia. first honey bees are NOT native to North America, although the article is from the UK. in fact Naive Americans called them the "white man's fly". Bees are not the sole pollinators of everything either. the major crops grown in my home state don't rely on pollinators. corn and wheat are not pollinated by bees, nor are numerous other species. many crops are grown and produced from cloning/cutting and still many plants use other insects as pollinators. look at the many species of figs that often are associated with just one species of wasp.
Is Britain having the same problem the US is with CCD?
I talked to a guy that sells honey at the local farmer's market, and this past year was the first time in 15 years that he actually had to purchase more bees because he'd lost over 90% of his hives to CCD.
Anyhow, the symptoms described in the article sort of sounded like CCD, although I've never seen it, just had it described to me.
My only question would be how this affects their ability to collect pollen and make honey back at the hive. If it allows them to pollinate more flowers, then hell, I'm all for it.
Except if the source of that sweet, sweet sugar is more convenient to the hive than the flowers (and it would have to be, if it is intended to help the bees get to the flowers) then why go to the flowers?
It's like saying, I'm hungry but the McDonalds is too far away. So I'll stop at the Burger Kind on the way. Only after stopping at Burger King, there's no need to go to McDonalds.
I'm guessing if such assistance to the bees becomes widespread, fewer flowers will be pollinated.
Many people keep seeing bees on the ground and assume they are dead, but chances are they are having a rest
I don't see them on the ground but they seem to collect in my lawn mower's grass catcher.
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Trolling is a art,
...the great UK honey bee diabetes epidemic of 2010.
I really hate being right in advance all the time.
"A microprocessor... is a terrible thing to waste." --
GeneralEmergency
But Brawndo's got what plants crave. It's got electrolytes. I'm sure bees crave it too.
Better idea - Genetically modified superbees.
Prob Sol
Until we start wondering why our honey is giving us a crazed, caffeine-infused high. Remember, honey is basically bee vomit. Also, if Red Bull gives you wings, what does it give bees?
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That, and you'll end up with an army of ants swarming the sugary concoction. Pretty much all insects will find it tasty.
A simple trick from hummingbird feeders is to have a cup of water the ants would have to swim through to get to the nectar, likea so. Ants can't swim, so they can't get to it. Okay, some species can form ant-bridges to cross water. Hopefully those kind aren't around where you're keeping your bees. :)
This is obviously a plot by the Society of Birds to make more food for their feathered friends.
Maybe! Certainly hummingbirds will like the sugar water as much as bees do.
Here's another trick that would probably work if you are only interested in attracting bees to your feeder: Paint it yellow. Hummingbirds are attracted to the color red, not so much to yellow. That's why hummingbird feeders are red. Some though have yellow "flowers", and I've learned that you should avoid those if you don't want bees and wasps on your feeder because they like yellow. Flip that around, and you have a feeder that should attract bees (and wasps) but not hummingbirds.
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Just like with Hummingbird feeders, if you do this I recommend dis-infecting your container periodically by boiling (or use disposable containers).
Otherwise, you eventually have microbial contamination problems which could be dangerous to the bees you're trying to help. Growth of yeasts, bacteria, and other organisms should not be assumed to be necessarily visible to the naked eye, either.
There will be a lot more insects finding their way to the sugar water. Most likely ants will find the sugar and swarm on it first.
I keep bees and have to feed them sugar water when weather doesn't cooperate with their collection of pollen and nectar. The only thing that keeps ants away from the sugar water I feed to a hive are the hundreds of guard bees. They bite at the ants and chase them away.
uh... isn't bee Pollen one of those things they put in the energy pills they sell at the gas-n-go mini marts? Maybe they should add some pollen to that sugar water.
also isn't giving Bee's sugar going to prevent them from bothering with the flowers they are supposed to be pollinating? after all they visit flowers for sugar not pollen. The pollen is just symbiotic side-efffect.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
.. but if you prefer something more aggressive than passive, you can't beat tennis racket bug zappers. Keeps the kids off the xbox for hours.
I will start feeling benevolent towards these insects once laws are enacted that disallow the posession of both wings and a stinger.
It should be illegal to have both. FOR GOD'S SAKE PICK ONE!!!
you actually learn what the hell you are talking about.
A) If we stopped using pesticide, 1/3 of the human population will die from starvation.
B) 'Pesticides' are not bad. They are a good thing when properly used. Most, if not all, modern pesticides have a very short half life
C) At this pojnt it looks like its two things causing this, a parasite, and a fungus. Not all the data is in, but it is strong
D) There are no issues with genetically created crops. That is panic based on ignorance and an ideology.
E) AS I mentioned befroe, it is really starting to lok like a double whamy of a parasite and a fungus. Something Humans can help cure.
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I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Hello,
I've been reading that one of the reasons US bees may be having trouble is a poor diet. Bees need other nutrients in their diet than pure sugar. They get it from pollen and genuine plant nectar. Sugar water doesn't contain these.
A lot of US bees, instead of having a variety of foods available as would be in a wild environment, have just one type of flower to feed upon, like apples, and maybe some corn-syrup-water. Inadequate nutrition results, and CCD is an effect (so the theory goes).
How about we give bees sugar + complete bee nutrient solution?
--PM
Maybe! Certainly hummingbirds will like the sugar water as much as bees do.
Not a problem in Britain
Here's another trick that would probably work if you are only interested in attracting bees to your feeder: Paint it yellow. Hummingbirds are attracted to the color red, not so much to yellow.
But yellow may attract a flock of song chavs or a legless tree asbo.
Well that's why you feed them, so they don't get too exhausted to move. :P
What are you planning to do, otherwise? Physically pick up the immobile bees and place them close enough to the nectar to eat but not so close they drown?
The enemies of Democracy are
Yes, they're hard to mistake for each other, and if you read the article, honeybees only get a tiny mention. They're one of three species that are in the article. The other two are bumblebees. The only expert quoted is a bumblebee expert. RTFA.
And as I stated, bumblebees live IN THE GROUND. So seeing them on the ground is normal.