By: Joyce Marie
My husband, Brian, finds happiness from saving bees, one bee at a time. Where does he save bees? Right in our backyard.
Just outside his office is a swimming pool, and since there is a door right there by his desk, Brian frequently goes outside for a break – when the weather is nice, of course. While out there, he scans the pool for any unfortunate bees that are struggling to get out. Almost every day he finds one.
When he spots a bee exerting all its energy, going in circles in the pool, Brian makes his move. He wants to save the bee that cannot fly because its wings are wet. Picking up the bee on his finger, Brian knows this bee wants to be saved.
The bee clings to his finger, and Brian has no fear of the gentle bee. The poor bee is disoriented, not knowing where it is. It just wants to survive, and it is grateful to be on Brian’s finger.
Brian nudges the bee to keep it moving. As he watches, the bee tries to dry off. It raises its rear end upward and uses its little legs to wipe itself dry. Then the back end of the bee goes down and the front end goes up. The bee then uses its front legs and feet to dry its head and antennae.
The wings of the bee are stuck to its body, so Brian lifts up the wings to help them get dried out. After a while, the wings begin to whir like a helicopter or the propeller of an airplane. Then the bee zooms off, like a helicopter!
As Brian watches, the bee heads toward him,