#Bee finds

Morning, morning!

Blimey, it’s going to be an absolute scorcher today, the sun ☀️ is already hot at 6am.

Yesterday, on twitter, the amazing Bee ‘knowledgeable-ones’ confirmed that these Bees, that I found on one of our many walks down to Sennen beach, was Megachile leachella, or the Silvery leafcutter. How chuffed was I?

It’s not rare but it was oh so special to me. I’m going to pop it on to iRecord today.

Have a lovely day everyone, and I hope you get to enjoy the sunshine 🌞 and shade.

Don’t forget to look at my posts from yesterday to see my #beenews.

The curious incident of the Bee in the night.

On Friday night, I drew the curtains across in the kitchen and discovered a very tired Buff-tailed Bumblebee.

“Well,” I thought, “there’s no point in setting it free now, there’ll be no food”. So I made up sugar solution for its breakfast and let it sleep.

I got up at six to bright sunshine but a less bright Bee, poor thing, but administered said sugar solution.

The Bee was unresponsive, looked injured, her legs went from under her and she was not moving.

After a minute or two her body slowly vibrated a little and she (I thought accidentally) vibrated into the mini sugary puddle. It looked like she was taking her last breath – her antennae we moving so slowly.

But then, all of a sudden, and I mean SUDDENLY, she began moving – the sugar hit the spot. So I ran into the garden in me jimmys to grab some grape hyacinth and she lapped up the nectar in there. A moment later I popped her into the garden and she was gone.

Success and happiness – so, it works.

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#grapehyacinth #bumblebee #bufftailedbumblebee #sugarsolution #savethebees #bees #beerescue

Fifty Bees, the beginning in 2017

In the beginning, there was the book by Steven Falk 

and a publication by Friends of the Earth.

Then came masses of planning and administration and emails and social media postings and drawing and talking to fifty + artists. Phew!
And then finally, finally, I started working on the first bee, the Violet Carpenter Bee.

 And then slowly, juggling a business and a job and markets and teaching, bee numbers began to grow.
Sometimes it felt like I would never get them all made but it happened, they started to evolve out of the wool and the containers.

And I can’t tell you how chuffed I was to see them all collected together – it felt like a real achievement.

But in the background, working away in their chosen media with total dedication, fifty artists were creating their own personal responses to ‘their’ bees, becoming experts and advocates for fifty special little insects.

The first proof was emailed to me by Sam Cannon. I can’t begin to express what that felt like, finally seeing evidence that the other artists had ‘got’ the concept of the FIFTY BEES project.

Huge thanks go to Sam and every single one of the artists.

Then before we knew it, it was time to set up the exhibition, my FIRST and we had a blank canvas of a gallery space. So, so exciting – I have no idea how I got to do this in my life – I’m a lucky, lucky woman. But also, I really had no idea how to hang an exhibition – the expert help, guidance and humour from the three ‘Beekeepers’ made it possible.

After the set up, to then host a private view with so many beautiful people turning up to see the amazing work by such talented artists, added to the joy.

Further information

Here’s a link to the Ecologist’s lovely article about the exhibition: http://www.theecologist.org/blogs_and_comments/Blogs/2989106/uk_artists_showcase_the_plight_of_the_disappearing_british_bee.html