It’s #Friday folks!
Have the best #weekend you can.
You know the drill:
Be #kind
Be #gentle
Be #true
Be like #bees
Don’t be a fucking Nazi or cheer on fucking Nazis from a distance.
Go easy out there!
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 97
Buzz pollination - in brief.
#bumblebees rapidly contract their flight muscles. This produces powerful vibrations which they channel to the flower using their legs/mouths.
Result = #pollen explosion all over the bee.
Happy bee!
#bees
Almost on time!
Counts as early for me.
So…
Yes folks I have another quick question for ye:
Why does a duck have feathers?
To cover up its butt quack!
What?
What?
…butt quack…
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 96
Red clover is a superb nectar source for long-tongued #bumblebees.
Honeybees prefer White clover.
Nectar secreted by red #clover can often be so abundant it fills the flower-tube meaning honeybees can access it too.
#bees
Quick question:
What’s the difference between a marine biologist and a dog?
One tags a whale and the other wags a tail!
What?
What?
That’s what happens when I’ve time on my hands.
I’ll be in the corner!
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 95
Initially when #bumblebees start foraging they are not necessarily too good or efficient at it!
Newly emerged female workers often use up more resources in the process of foraging than they are actually gathering.
Awww!
#bees
Late.
But not too late!
You know what it is too late for?
The 400 + year old oak felled in London recently.
400 + years of living, giving and vitality.
Fucked in a moment.
On a whim.
This matters.
It hurts us all.
#Whitewebbsoak
#ecocide
#trees
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 94
Bumblebee nests are notoriously difficult to find in the #wild.
This can hinder population surveys of #bumblebee species as nest density is used as an indicator of populations.
#bees
Late.
Yep!
Busy working on numbers:
20,000 species of bee.
Decreasing.
10,000 species of birds.
Decreasing.
6,500 mammals.
Decreasing.
And…
2781 billionaires.
Increasing.
#TheBillionaireProblem
#BeesNotBillionaires
Join Us
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 93
There are more species of bee on the #planet than the combined total of mammal and bird species.
There are over 20,000 species of #bees.
Around 6,500 species of #mammals and 10,000 species of #birds have been described.
Early?
You’re darn tootin’ I am!
Got some billionaires to sort out.
#BeesNotBillionaires
Join me?
beesnotbillionaires.org
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 92
For #bumblebees size matters…
…of their antennae!
Bigger #bees with bigger antennae have greater sensitivity to odours.
Large antennae can catch more odour molecules and so are more sensitive to odours than small antennae.
What’s nine hours or so late when we are contemplating 130 million years of existence and evolution?
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 91
Bees foraged amongst dinosaurs.
Ponder that…in the context of our consequence.
Late.
But worth the wait!
It’s #Friday folks!
Have the best #weekend you can.
You know the drill.
Be #kind
Be #gentle
Be #true
Be like #bees
Stay clear of cults, fascists and criminals ie American presidents.
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 90
Even within the same colony not all #bumblebees spend the same amount of time actively foraging for pollen and nectar.
Bees that spend more time foraging tend to have shorter lifespans than those bees that forage less often.
Early!
A bit like #ecocide though there should never be a time for that.
Stop spraying chemical #poisons on #nature and #bees.
No excuses.
Just stop.
They are designed to kill and that is what they do.
So stop.
Stop.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Stop!
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 89
In 1945, the American Chemical Paint Company released the first US ‘residential herbicide’ 2,4-D which had been developed during WW2 as a chemical weapon to wipe out potatoes in Germany and rice in Japan.
Late.
Yep!
Out sitting with the queens in the sunshine.
And my what a lot of queens there are.
Place is literally humming.
‘They got a message from the Action Man
We’re humming hope you’re humming too…’
#nature
#bowie
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 87
#Bumblebees leave a scent mark (a sticky secretion) behind whenever they land on #flowers and can distinguish between their own scent marks, those left by fellow nest-mates and those left behind by #bees from other colonies.
In the time it takes to blink your eye democracy and decency will die…so don’t blink.
Don’t blink.
Don’t.
Blink.
#resist
#donotlookaway
#donotblink
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 86
In the time it takes to blink your eyes flying #bees will beat their wings approximately 65 times.
‘Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings…’
- John Gillespie Magee Jr
Howdy folks!
I’m in an early kinda humour.
If you’re enjoying the good weather in your garden/yard/patch keep an eye out for bumblebee queens out and about presently and resist the urge to tidy up. #Nature thrives in messy wild.
#gardens
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 85
Forage Basics 101:
Nectar = Carbohydrates = Sugar = Energy.
Pollen = Protein + Nutrients + Fats.
‘Bees need flowers need bees need flowers need…’
- The Bee Guy
…and you can quote me on that!
#bees
Late.
But I bring you not just another great fact. Not just another bumblebee.
But a big ass dollop of the brightest yellow goodness to light up your evening after a day of resistance.
Tell me you were resisting.
You oughta!
#resist
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 84
#bees consume large amounts of oxygen but don’t breathe through noses or mouths.
Instead they draw oxygen in through holes along their bodies called #spiracles and deliver it directly to tissue and muscles.
Early!
It’s #Friday folks!
Have the best #weekend you can.
You know the drill:
Be #kind
Be #gentle
Be #true
Be like #bees
Oh…and don’t be a little rich stand for nothing bitch that starts a global trade war for attention.
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 83
#Bumblebees made history when over 130 years ago they were brought from England to New Zealand to pollinate red #clover for farmers - the first #insect to be introduced to a country to #pollinate a specific plant.
Late?
Yep!
Working in one of the meadows all day. Forgot to bring food. Chilly enough so I had to crawl home to take advantage of the small difference in altitudinal air temperature.
Hey if it’s good enough for #bees
What?
What?
#theBeeAt3
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 82
If food is scarce bumblebees will forage in temperatures as low as 40°F.
They will vary the height at which they fly to and from the nest to take advantage of any small differences in altitudinal air temperature.
Maybe I should ask a bumblebee to chew on a bee fact…then it might arrive early!
What?
What?
I do this for free!
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 81
Research found that tomato plants flowered up to 30 days earlier in response to their leaves being chewed by hungry #bumblebees.
When this behaviour is mimicked by cutting the leaves they only flower 5 days earlier!
#bees
Okay, okay…here’s the genuine bee fact for today.
No Taylor Swift.
No Marvin Gaye.
No trickery.
No fools.
Just a lovely Common Carder #bumblebee on a vital #dandelion flower.
Go easy folks.
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 80
# 79 contd.
This plant stressing bee behaviour may be a ‘tough love’ adaptation as #climate breakdown brings bees out of hibernation earlier.
If no food is available #bees die, pollination suffers and plants disappear too.
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 80
A recent study in Sweden has found that music can affect bumblebee mating - specifically the length of mating events.
In a laboratory environment broadcasting soul songs such as Marvin Gaye’s ‘Let’s Get It On’ resulted in longer and more frequent mating events.
Songs by #TaylorSwift were found to decrease mating event duration and often inhibit entirely mating between #bumblebees.
#bees
#nature
#April
Told you I’d be back!
With today’s fact.
Still not sure if it’s late or not but it’s definitely a goodie regardless of the time.
And I am…
Regardless of the time!
Go easy folks.
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 79
Recent research suggests that if food is scarce hungry #bumblebees will chew on plant leaves - not to eat them - but to stress the plant causing it to #flower thus providing earlier #pollen for the #bees.
Chew on that!
Late?
Not sure. They’ve been messing with the clocks again…and given my already tumultuous relationship with time…well…it wouldn’t surprise me if this wasn’t even today’s fact!
It’s not?
Ok
I need another fact.
I’ll be back!
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
# 78
Unlike females, male #bumblebees don’t perform learning flights on leaving the nest. They fly directly away never looking back. 
They do however perform learning flights on leaving #flowers to memorise location.
#bees
