There weren't as many bees at the trough this morning as there were yesterday, but they (and a big black ant) provided much entertainment. (I lost the photo of the ant interacting with the bees when I tried loading it into the computer.)
The bees do a zig-zag fly-by before circling and finally settling down on the rim of the bowl. There is a good-sized rock in the middle of the bowl, for those short legged birds that prefer not to get their rear ends wet while drinking. Some of the bees would crawl under the exposed edge, hanging upside down to drink. Most of them, though, seemed to prefer landing on the slope of the rim. A few tilted a bit too far forward and ended up face first in the drink. I fished more than one imbiber out today when they couldn't right themselves.
Several bees stumbled away from the birdbath bowl like drunks from their bar stools. Made me wonder if their bellies were so full of water they lost their balance, or if water is intoxicating to bees.
Three bees settled next to each other on the rim, and were drinking for almost 30 seconds. They were so focused on the water that they didn't see the ant running along behind them. The ant ran past all three, then turned around and drew near the bees. It touched its antennae to the rear end of the first bee, which leaped up buzzing, and frantically flapping its wings. Ant moved on to the next bee, who hadn't moved a millimeter from its spot at the bar. This time, the ant gently nipped the rear of his victim, who reacted the same way as the first one, and flew off, buzzing loudly in the most irritated manner. Ant then moved closer to the third bee, jaws open, as if ready to nip the last one a little harder.
Ha! The third bee whirled around and shot a perfect sphere of water into the ant's open jaw, with enough force that ant fell backwards off the edge of the birdbath, into the leaves beneath. Tickled the heck out of me. I could imagine the other two bees cheering on their comrade from the sidelines.
I didn't know bees drink water, assumed they drink only nectar. Does all this water-drinking mean the honey they make will be less concentrated? Do they take the water back to cool off the hive, or the queen? What do they do with it, other than knock tail-nipping ants into the dirt?
15 comments:
What a great story and I love the photo!
Hope you get that rain to cool the garden and you! Sure could use some here too.
I must admit, I had no idea bees drank water either... but then, thinking about it, most creatures on this planet require water to live. I'm now looking at all the little crawling beasties with a renewed sense of interest.
Beautifully observed. Bees are scarce this year down our way which may explain the bean flowers not setting as they should. May I borrow some of your bees. Water will be provided.
Very cool--like you, I'd like to know more about the secret life of bees!
And not much turned up in a search either. Best ask an apiarist. Very interesting, especially the ant confrontation.
I LOVE your eyes and your words!
Glad to see you back to blogging--I missed you.
P.S. Other people besides me seem to be surprised at bees drinking water too, since I found lots of videos on YouTube of bees drinking--even one of them at a bird bath:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I61brLnmx0k&NR=1
OK, just one more---in the related videos sidebar were some crow videos---this one of a crow playing with a ball made me smile--I love how smart and funny crows are:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AZxYEoBOLo
And now, good night!
Wonderful drama.
Hello, everyone. Nice of you to drop by.
M-L - we have rain today, so I'm urging the clouds in your direction, post haste!
Steve - as a child I learned to fear bees, probably because I ran barefoot in summer and ended up stepping on them as they fed on clover blossoms in the yard. But I no longer do, and felt very lucky, indeed, that they allowed me to sit as close as I did while they drank.
Plutarch - if I could catch the water-bomber and a few of his (her?) pals, I would send them to you. I was glad to see so many bees at the birdbath, since local fruit growers were lamenting last fall that the bee population has decreased drastically. They were worried there wouldn't be enough of them to pollinate the blossoms this year. There was talk of hiring bees from other states to come do the job. Local beekeepers suggested the rest of us could help support local bees by planting more flowers, especially those with lots of nectar.
ER - they are interesting, aren't they? I'd love to see what their water dance looks like when they got back to the hive.
Z-I was so disappointed to lose the one photo I had taken of the ant touching the one bee. The whole episode was fascinating to watch unfold.
Fresca-the videos are great. Loved watching the bees jockeying for position at the water's edge. And that crow! I know crows have a sense of humor and love to play tricks, but that one was almost like a dog or cat playing with its toys - playing hide and seek, yet! Too cool.
ArtSparker - drama, indeed, and I was fortunate to have a front row seat. Some days just go right in spite of ourselves.
CROW: What sealed that crow's excellence for me was the clever and patient manner in which it got the ball out from under the newspaper, where it had rolled.
I've seen cats be entirely baffled when one of their toys "disappeared" like that.
Come to think of it, that crow seemed smarter than some people I've known...
What was most amazing was the apparent problem solving it went through, first tearing at the newspaper, then walking around to the other side for a better view.
I love crows, and this is the sort of thing that does it for me.
Thanks again for the video pointers, Fresca.
great description.... and sensitively done.
btw, rain here in my region yesterday and blessedly humidity free here today..... ahhhh!
Harlequin - Rain, glorious rain, fell here a bit, too, and this morning the air is drier and much cooler than just a couple of days ago.
Would love to have some more rain, but am grateful for what we did receive.
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