The Last Bumblebee

The last few days seem like a blur to me. They have gone by so fast. Maybe too fast for me. The flow of time has swept me up in the rapids and I have been pulled along out of control. It's a fun ride, but it's hard to see all the sights that fly past. I wish I could slow it all down so I could do all the things I want.

Yesterday I went on a bug hunt that kept me out until dark. The bugs all went home, but I was still out there wandering around. I noticed that it was getting quieter, but I was still far from home. I was enjoying myself so much that I was just in no hurry to come back to civilization. Has that ever happened to you?

The good thing was that before the bugs all went home for a night's rest I was able to get a few pictures. The bee above happened to be illuminated just right by the setting sun. The light shined off of it and helped it stand right out for my camera. I wish I could have gotten more like this.

But most of the pictures were more like this one. Now make no mistake, this picture also has some very good things about it. It's just that the bumblebee decided that the best tasting pollen was in between the leaves and the blossoms. That made for a difficult time of taking its picture.

But as for the good points, take a look at the end of its back legs! Click on the picture to get a closer look, if you want. It shows an excellent example of how these bees hold onto a plant or a flower. The bee actually has little grappling hooks on the ends of its legs so it can hold on.

Before you think that is maybe kind of repulsive, consider this. Mammals like us have feet or hands, with wiggling fingers and toes on the ends of our legs. And those have sharp nails or claws on the ends of them. Think about how strange or even scary these tentacle like appendages seem to a bee that only has simple grappling hooks.

Here is the innocent little bumblebee looking out from its hiding place at the big mushy giant two legged creature with the clawed tentacles pointing a big square weapon at him. No wonder they sometimes sting. I guess taking a step back from the poor frightened little guy is the best thing for both of us.

So I'm going to take that step back from the bee, and the other bugs, for this week. Tomorrow will be something very different from this bug week we've had. When I first saw what I will bring you tomorrow I was very surprised. It was partially because they were new and partially because of their great beauty. See you then.


Nature Center Magazine - The fifty states of the USA seem to be going by so fast in the series that Copas has been doing. We are already up to Maryland. Each state has its own natural beauty. Come see what Maryland has to offer for nature lovers.