Saving a Wild Bee Colony From The Side of The Road!

It was just there, waiting to be found and rescued. Without help, the bees stood little chance. So I did what I could to bring them back from the brink of disaster.

I write novels, but I’ve always been interested in bees. I’ve got all the gear, and I like the way they help keep the planet alive. They pollinate the things we eat, including fresh fruit and vegetables. Their sexual intervention also creates new trees, bushes and grasses, which give us fresh air. Everything they do helps make human life possible. Yet these little workers are in decline.

human behaviour, storytelling, writing life

I have some idea why they’re threatened: predators, parasites, disease and climate change all take their toll. Margo and I wanted to do something small to help.

We have a modest plot of land where a hive or two could live, with flowering trees and bushes in Margo’s garden nearby. It seemed like a good place for one. Wild honey bees are street-wise insects. They already know how to forage, feed and breed. They don’t need me to teach them how to be bees.

Some apiarists are wary of taking wild colonies. They talk about aggression, disease, weak queens and poor honey production. Those are fair concerns when you’re bringing bees into a commercial operation. I wasn’t doing that. I wasn’t going to mix them with other hives or make a business of it. I just wanted to give a struggling colony somewhere better to live.

I lifted the concrete lid covering the water-mains connection and looked underneath. What I found was disappointing. The little hive was in trouble. There were two combs, and one was blackened and tatty at the end. It touched the soil. Ground-dwelling creatures could reach the contents, and the colony looked as if it had already seen better days.

I’d love to tell you I took them home, nursed them back to health and watched them build a glorious bee city. I can’t. Nature doesn’t always give us the ending we want, and good intentions don’t guarantee a rescue. I’ve tried to give other colonies a better chance too, including one bee colony I relocated to a new home. Sometimes the work succeeds; sometimes it doesn’t.

You want a happy story about this rescue, don’t you? So do I. But a hive reaching its natural but tragic end isn’t romantic, and pretending otherwise wouldn’t help the bees. It’s simply part of nature.

But I’ve seen and felt how a rescue can stay with you.

Once, I freed a turtle caught in rope; that moment became both a real-life account of saving the turtle and, later, a scene in one of my stories. I’ve also written about saving a baby bird from drowning. Each time, you act because a creature needs help. You don’t know how the story will end.

I tried my best to help these bees. My efforts came with good intentions.

Does that count?

Related reading: cloning as a possible tool in species preservation.

–Michael (Dark Fiction. Author of SEETHINGS (the first book), free for a limited time)