Bees dying in flowers

[Antipodes]

Noticed what I thought to be bees feeding happily in cherry blossoms but it turns out they were lethargic and nearly dead. The one in the second photo has been there for hours now. I presume they were feeding and then got cold and were on their last legs anyhow? First photo sweet cherry, second one a flowering cherry.

 

[Curly green finger's]

Noticed what I thought to be bees feeding happily in cherry blossoms but it turns out they were lethargic and nearly dead. The one in the second photo has been there for hours now. I presume they were feeding and then got cold and were on their last legs anyhow? First photo sweet cherry, second one a flowering cherry.

Are they older bees at the end of there life cycle I wonder.?

 

[Antipodes]

Are they older bees at the end of there life cycle I wonder.?

Could be.... I haven't seen it before. The days are cool and windy with the cold south westerlies and they are working hard because we are at peak flowering, so they'd be dying at a relatively hive rate now. It's just got dark and the one in the second photo is still there.

 

[Curly green finger's]

Could be.... I haven't seen it before. The days are cool and windy with the cold south westerlies and they are working hard because we are at peak flowering, so they'd be dying at a relatively hive rate now. It's just got dark and the one in the second photo is still there.

Personally I would put her in my pocket for a warm or cup her in my hands, and when she comes back to life I would put her on a landing board and watch her walk in.

 

[BugsInABox]

Took this in the spring. She wasn’t quite dead - so I chose to believe she was napping.

 

[Antipodes]

She survived the night, in exactly the same spot, head buried in the flower and the night wasn't cold... about 8 degrees and windy. She is now on the move this morning as the day is warming (Monday morning here now)...very, very slowly but clinging on well in the breeze.

 

[Frizzaldo]

find a lot of bumbles like that here on colder nights, sometimes give them a bit of sugar syrup on a matchstick and they get enough energy to fly off to somewhere warmer

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I think there has been some kind of study into torpidity in bees (Might have been shared on here - by Erichalfbee IIRC) in a nutshell, the incidence of bees staying out all night and returning to the colony the next day is more prevalent than we realise.

 

[Antipodes]

Thanks Jenkins, that sounds like it. I noticed she had fallen off the flower onto the ground mid -morning and was last seen crawling very slowly along the hose that was underneath. She had disappeared by midday, presumably finally warm enough to fly off. Got to about 15/16 degrees.