Author Gary Taylor ◦
Here’s something you don’t see too often, gotta say I’ve never seen it before…
Not the bee, Hylaeus (Prosopisteron) vittatifrons, they’re probably the most abundant native bee here in midwest WA, and not the “bubbling”, I’ve got heaps of pics of different bees (Megachile, Amegilla, Leioproctuus, Exoneura, Homalictus, various Hylaeines…) bubbling nectar… But I’ve never seen one regurgitate a nectar bubble completely and discard it, let alone do it twice…
Ok, so there’s a couple of things that strike me here, the first is that she let me get this close to her… they’re only about 4-5 mm long and normally extremely timid… get within a foot of them and they’re gone…
The second is the density of the bubble. The second pic (which was the first bubble she threw up), isn’t great focus wise on the bee but it shows how thick the bubble is. So thick that the part that was down her throat kept it’s formation.
And she wasn’t the only one that was acting a little odd, I have pics of half a dozen others that also let me get right up close (even held the leaf they were on to stop it moving in the wind, which again would normally scare them off straight away), and they all have their front legs tucked under them. It makes me wonder if the previous few days of hot humid weather (38 the day before) had fermented the nectar of the Illyarrie and she was a bit “under the weather” so to speak…
In conversation…
James
Interesting. Looks like there might be a full nectar and pollen load there. Perhaps consumed the wrong pollen or the pollen wasn’t good for some reason?
Gary
Mostly pollen I’d reckon James, the first ball she threw up rolled away down the leaf. No stickiness to it at all. She even spun her head around and looked like she was going to try to stop it but it went too quick. She held the second one down and looked for a moment like she was going to have a go at eating it again.
James
Really interesting. I too wonder if there was some poison in the food. Or maybe it was the wrong plant species. But then why eat it in the first place, unless it ate some exotic plants pollen that tricked it… I expect you didn’t keep the errr… load 😛
Gary
I did think about keeping it James, I even wondered who I could send it to but I had nothing to put it in. Poison is unlikely, wrong time of year for glyphosate, no reason the tree would get pesticide spray, but so many other bees looking a bit off colour on the same tree…
Michelle
I feared they had been poisoned by some awful spray… wouldn’t they know by scent not to consume fermented nectar?
Gary
I also considered a spray of some kind Michelle, but it’s highly unlikely where the tree is. But yes bees are known to feed on. fermented nectar …
Michelle
Gary I’m glad not sprays. If they feed on fermented nectar, I wonder does it mean that food is scarce or that they too enjoy a little mead …
Gary
I don’t think it’s a shortage of food Michelle, the Illyarrie they’re on is a mass of blooms literally dripping with nectar. I ‘ll often sip from the cups, it’ has a lovely taste. I tried some to see if it tasted different to previous days but couldn’t tell the difference, perhaps it’s not strong enough alcohol wise. for me to tell but enough for a little bee to feel the effects if it had been feeding on it all day…
Michelle
Gary Oh you brought back a childhood memory of my mum showing me to sip nectar from some flowers, I don’t remember what they were, but I remember the floral sweetness.
Megan
Gary, is her abdomen more distended that you would usually observe?
James
Megan do you think she over-ate? Very relatable content 😅
Megan
James she may have bitten off more than she could chew…. 😁
Gary
I’ll have to do a comparison check when I get home Megan, this one does look a little larger than usual but from memory a couple of the other bees. that I got pics of (that seemed off colour) were average size.
Peter
Wow. Classic Bubble-ing to dehydrate nectar, but, seems to have added pollen …