Strategies for Keeping Children Calm around Bees

Sweat bee in a native plant called Pearly Everlasting. This is one of those flowers that has dry petals you can use in flower arrangements

It's a muggy hot afternoon in August. I have come to the Cedar Cottage Neighborhood House to do a bee safari with a group of 6-8 year olds. I arrive early to assess the situation and see if there are any bee plants in the immediate vicinity. The older kids are rounded up for a game involving a ball and chalk squares drawn on the ground. One of the boys is declared out and he seems upset. He goes and sits down on a log and quietly starts to sob. I go over to him and quietly tell him to take a deep breath and murmur encouragement. Then I leave him alone. The game is going on, with rules that puzzle me. I'm not the only one as other kids get frustrated and tempers flare. Another boy stops and lies down on the chalk square. He begins to cry. To my amazement I realize he is the identical twin of the first boy who succumbed to the heat. I try to calm him and hand him some lemon balm, but he pushes it away.

Okay, I've got a bunch of kids I don't know, who are overheated and volatile and we're going to be around stinging insects. This sounds like fun. To my delight there are all sorts of vegetables in raised beds growing all around the neighborhood house. Two girls want to water the corn and squash so I show them how to hold the hose to water the soil, not the leaves. "We don't need help," they tell me and water the leaves. I'm on a winning streak.

 After two minutes they get board, so I finish up the watering. On a hot day like this I can't help "accidently" spraying a few kids. The boys who were playing the game on the pavement dare me to soak them and I do. This is summer camp after all, and we all need watering. The councellors  round up the kids and sing my favorite song I love to hate: "I'm scooping up a baby bumble bee. Won't my momma bee so pleased with me?" It starts with scooping and ends with puking. It's not a pretty song and it advocates cruelty to bees. Just great.

Before we head off on our walk, I take the group of 12 youngsters to a garden bed. I take a male blossom off the plant and close the top. "Do you know how to act around bees?" I ask. Don't do this, one girl demonstrates and she runs around flapping her hands and screeches." "Yes, that's exactly what you don't do," I say. You need to take a deep breath and move very slowly, like in Tai Chi. I take a male blossom off a squash plant. "Do you know what's in here?" I ask. "Is it a bee?" "Yes, and I'm going to see if she'll crawl on my hand." I can see a frisson of revulsion shiver through a girl's shoulders. "I'm scared", she says. "It's going to be okay," I say. I open the top of the blossom and she flies up and back into the squash plant. "You see, she doesn't want to bother me," I say. She just wants to pollinate this squash. And I explain how bees take pollen from the male blossom and put in on a female blossom so it can produce a squash like the ones we see developing on the plant. "Without pollination those squash would have died," I explain.

 I am relieved to be working with the youngest of the kids. They are wee 6-8 year-olds dwarfed by their huge backpacks. We head to the school garden. "It's a bee nest!" They shout and point at a tree. Perched above the cars on a boulvard tree, a classic paper wasp nest hangs from a tree. Aha! This is a teachable moment. I explain that the wasps chew up wood from the fences and create a paper pup which they form into a nest. Winnie the Pooh is all wrong, I say. The illustrator didn't know anything about the difference between wasps and bees. If this was made of wax it would melt and fall off the tree. "Oh, now I see," one bright little girl says, the light dawning in her eyes. Success!

"What would happen if you threw a soccer ball at that nest?" a boy asks. There's one in every crowd. "You would get stung because the wasps would try to defend their babies," I say. But if you don't bother them, they won't bother you. Then I explain to them my ritual of giving a sacrificial piece of salmon to a hungry wasp at a picnic. I tell them to take their picnic plates inside as soon as they finish eating and keep all garbage under a tight lid. Then I tell them to pour any sweet drinks from a can   into a glass or a bottle with a lid because wasps can crawl into cans and you can get stung by accident when you drink from a can. That's wasp safety 101. "What if you kick a wasp and step on it?" the same boy asks, and the questions continue.

 

When we get to the garden, I see it's going to be tricky to get everyone in a spot where they can feel comfortable. We are pretty squished for space and there are bees everywhere. "Please stay further away from the flowers if you are afraid," I say, giving them a way to feel safe in the garden.

"I'm not really interested in this garden, one girl says, full of summer ennui. "This is my school garden."

"Well, maybe we can see something new," I say.

I give them my spiel, talking about bees using the examples of what we see in the lavender, wooly lamb's ear, perovskia, rudbeckia and echinacea. I explain that the blonde bumble bees are the males and they don't sting. "You can even catch them in your hands. Do you think I should do it?" They dare me and I catch a little blondie and show how he flies away from inside my hands back onto the flowers. "Do it again! Do it again!"

 Then I see a wasp chomping down on a bee caught in a spider's web. When the wasp leaves I take out the dead honeybee and show them. It takes a while to convince them she's really dead, but then they take turns touching her and I leave her on the fence for them to observe. "Can you break that spider web so it doesn't catch any more bees?" the girl says. This is the girl that was repelled by bees about an hour ago.

We form a circle and do the bee dance before the kids settle down for their snack. One boy tells me a tall tale: "My friend got scratched by a bee and my brother punched the queen and stepped on it!" he claims. "That's an interesting piece of fiction," I say and move on.

We walk back to the neighborhood house past the wasp nest, having had a good safari in the heat of the midday sun. I walk down to the Cedar Cottage Community garden where beekeeper Peter has opened up the hives and is looking for a queen. "I hope he doesn't punch her and step on her," I think to myself and head down the hill for a long, tall glass of iced tea.

Cypress Community Garden Pollinators

Madame Beespeaker had a marvelous day off today doing some of her favorite things: eating lunch at Aphrodite's Organic Delights, touring gardens and thrift shopping. Yes! These lovely bees are enjoying the vanilla scented Joe Pye Weed in the Cypress Community Garden. Note the odd morphology of these blossoms. I am not seeing much pollen here. I like capturing more than one bee on a plant. Bees seem to like to have space around them when they forage, much like me at the supermarket checkout. If someone gets in my personal bubble, I need to take a deep breath and  try to shift to  get away from the tailgater. The other day it was hot, I had a migraine and I snapped: "Could you please give me some space?"  I mean the woman was acting like I wasn't there and it was really bugging me.

I see bees bump one another out of their personal bubble, even bees of their own ilk. The larger bees often win, but not always. Sometimes the plant is so delectable that they tolerate the nearness of other bees. Kind of like me, when I'm tucking in to Aphrodite's delectable vegan cheesecake. I am very focused. Everything else in my range of vision melts away as I immerse myself in the cheesecake and nothing but the cheesecake and my iced chai. Does Joe Pye weed taste like vanilla cheesecake to a bee?

It was overcast today and I saw a few yellow leaves fall here and there. At first I would think it was a butterfly, but my heart sank as I saw it was a yellow leaf or two fluttering to the shadows on the ground.  I have had migraines the last two days with the humidity and heat, so today was a welcome relief. I can see into the future on days like this, and I spent the day imagining dresses inspired by bee and hummingbird plants. I was quickly brought to earth by the Chinese Canadian lady who owns the second hand store where I was perusing dresses. "That will never fit you," she said bluntly, "Maybe a friend, but not you, lady." Thump. Sound of a dreamer's dreams hitting the floor.

Can't you imagine a gown inspired by brown-eyed Susans and sneezeweed?

These gardens along the railway tracks are fascinating. Bordered by a hedgerow of blackberry they form pollinator corridors in our city. Linked up with gardens on bike lanes, they would form a strong network of passages for birds and insects. Wouldn't it be wonderful to turn all the disused rail lines into pollinator corridors across Canada? Told you I was in a dreamin' mood.

By the time I saw this skipper sipping nectar from a cosmos I was ready to head to Beaucoup Bakery for an iced tea. There should be tea rooms at regular intervals along the national pollinator pathways. Make mine jasmine green tea with a hint of rose and a fat brioche stuffed with hazelnut cream.

As I saw a honeybee attempt to sip nectar from one of these hardy fuschias it occurred to me that this plant is almost like a bee plant wearing a humming bird plant--purple underskirt for the bee, and red cape for the hummers, but those long stamens are definitely bird-sized. I wonder if these get robbed for nectar or if the double structure prevents that from happening. Watch your fuschias and tell me what you see!

A Strange Little Critter: New Wasp on the Block

 My, what big eyes you have! This little creature was pollinating the Angelica Sylvestris. It has something strange going on on its thorax. This is one time I wish I had netted it so I could check it closer. It has a damaged wing, so it looks like it has been through the wars.

 This blurry photo shows the pattern on its back. It's tiny--about a cm long.

ETA: Phil from the blog Cabinet of Curiosities has helped me identify this as a digger wasp, maybe the square-headed digger wasp like this one taken by Terry Thormin: http://www.pbase.com/terrythormin/image/128851647

 I love the way this wasp was balancing its back legs on a sunflower leaf to feed on the fennel nectar.

Here's another small wasp with a distinct pattern, a kind of window pane on its thorax.

 This is dangerous-looking milk thistle.

 I am really enjoying the shades of the hummingbird sage I planted from seed. It blooms in shell pink, white and scarlet.

A honey bee landed on my glasses and then crawled onto my hand and tried to stick its tongue in between my fingers. I think this is because I had a gig as the Queen Bee in the morning. I use a witch hazel with lavender to remove my makeup and the bee must have been attracted to the scent of the lavender. This has happened to me before when I rub lavender blossoms with my fingers. So you need to be aware that your cosmetics may attract bees!

Beautiful Native Bees

It seems there is more and more coverage of native bees in the news these days. Check out these amazing photographs in an article called Beyond Black and Yellow: The Stunning Colors of America's Native Bees.  Sadly the bees are all pinned, ie dead, but they are incredibly detailed photographs.


Thanks to all who came out to the Hummingbird Garden Party. I had a good time in spite of the Bouncy Castle (!).  There was a noisy generator parked right by the garden, but the bees didn't seem to mind. I had a sighting of one of those beautiful turquoise sweat bees while I was doing a garden talk. She was on an echinacea flower, but I just caught a quick look at her hind end and her back legs were fat with a light lemon-colored pollen.

Hummingbird garden Party will Go Today Rain or Shine!

Even with a thunderstorm predicted with afternoon we can still have our garden party, even if it is under the cozy cover of the Mobery Community Centre! Please join us whatever the skies provide!

I spent last night sewing the finishing touches on my costume. Don't forget to wear red!

Join at us the Moberly Cultural Herb Garden for a garden party celebrating the healing power of plants and gardens. 

There will be tea and treats and garden tours with Madame Beespeaker.

 Erin Udal from the Environmental Youth Alliance will discuss the programs the EYA have been creating to help the bees in our city and how you can help. 

Herbalist Lori Snyder will talk about local herbs you can find to boost your health. Some of the medicines you need might be the ones right under your feet! 

Meet the new Moberly artist in residence

 Melanie Schambach and artist/gardener Holly Schmidt.

Where: Behind the Moberly Community Arts Centre, 7646 Prince Albert Street, one block east of Fraser and 60th

When: Sunday August 11, 2-4 pm.

Dress-up Theme: Dress like a hummingbird flower: wear red!!!!!!!

FREE and all ages are welcome.

More BUM in your Garden Equals More Bees: Brassicas, Umbels, Mints

 After finishing up my fifth and final citizen scientist survey counting bees in Mount Pleasant Park and Community Garden, I have some insights about the common garden cultivars that bees love. First of all morphology, or the way flowers are shaped is very important. If you imagine flowers to tiny cups for bees, you start to see which cups bees prefer. Bees love the simple cross-shaped blossoms of brassicas, the tiny cups of umbels, and the miniature bilaterally symmetrical blooms of mint. The nectar rewards from  three kinds of plants can attract all sizes of native bees and honey bees.

Also, note the spearlike shape of the spearmint infloresence. This cone-shaped collection of florets is often attractive to bees.

 Pollen rewards are also important. As you can see here, this bumble bee has a big wodge of ivory or grey pollen on its hind legs. Pollen and nectar also contain the chemical constituents of the plant which affect it odor, flavor, and medicinal properties.

 You can see here in these fennel florets that they are shaped like tiny cups. Fennel pollen grains are quite large, turning the legs of this tiny pollen pants bee quite yellow, which is why I thought she was a wasp when I saw her first.

 But you can see here she does have quite a fuzzy head and thorax.

This plant is a new bee plant I'm growing for the first time in my back yard. It is a cultivar of Angelica Sylvestris called 'Vicar's Mead.'  I couldn't pass up a plant with a name like that! This past week it has been very popular with all sorts of bees. I asked a blogger named Marc Carlton from England about this plant since it was on his website and he kindly explained that this is a purple cultivar from a native British plant that is normally green. I highly recommend his website www.foxleas.com. It has excellent information on gardening for bees and Carlton is an inspiring and lyrical writer. He has real experience of watching bees in his garden to see which plants are active. I love this quote from an article called "How to choose plants that support pollinators: creating a new paradigm for 'native'": 

"My pollinator border is a “terrestrial coral reef”, not only a mass of disparate shapes and colours, but alive with the movement of small creatures – but insects, not fish."

--Marc Carlton, www.foxleas.com

I have been thinking about that quote all summer and it has inspired me in ways I will share with you soon.

 I wonder if this little bee is collecting pollen here or from the adjacent fennel plant.

 My fennel is absolutely noisy with bees of all sizes. Then the shade hits the plant at dinner time and it falls silent. Bees go home to bed. They fly toward the Nasanov signals that their hive mates are using to call them back to the hive. The chemical constituents in the Nasanov perfume are some of the same that attract bees to flowers.

There's the phenology of blooms that affects whether bees will feed from them and also a floral clock of sorts. Bees seem to have an innate preference for certain types of flowers over others, but their choice is also determined by proximity to their home base, especially at night when they are topping up before they go home. I see hummingbirds heading for specific plants for a long feed: ie monarda, buddleia, and crocosmia, and then they top up with other various plants in the proximity before they head home. They seem to know how much food they'll need  before they head home and try to make it through the night on the food they've consumed.

Some plants have long bloom periods, but short nectar runs. It seems the same way with pollen, which is why this week I've finally seen bees on yarrow and marigolds, even though they have been blooming for months.

And on a completely different note my monarda is blooming! Can't you see this as part of a Hummingbird coral reef!

As is this wacky salvia which the tag told me was supposed to have blue flowers. Oh well. It's pretty amazing. And a reminder that many sages are also great bee and or hummingbird plants. Like mint, they have bilaterial blossoms. The salvia with larger longer nectaries suit hummingbirds and the smaller blooms suit bees.

Skippers and a New Insect Hotel

 I have been noticing a lot of skippers lately all around the city. They are so plucky and playful. I like their attitude. This is a skipper in the snowberry (still blooming!!!) at the Moberly Cultural Herb Garden. (Have you got your red dress for the party this Sunday????)

 This is a small buddleia at the Oak Meadows park. It is a shame that most buddleia are invasive* here in Vancouver because they are great bee, butterfly and hummingbird plants. In fact, after I took this picture, I stood up and startled a hummingbird feeding from this plant. This afternoon I spent a good ten minutes watching an Anna's female feed in my neighbor's towering 18 ft buddleia. The bees were all over it as well. The Anna's even fought with a smaller hummer (perhaps a female rufous) to defend "her" bush. There was no squeaking, just the clacking of beaks like tiny swords. About a half and hour later there was a flock of bush tits in the buddleia, feeding on bugs. It was funny to see them land on a branch and sproing up and down on it.

 You can see her tongue go into the orange center of the floret.

 Erin Udal from the Environmental Youth Alliance says the yarrow in Oak Meadows Park has bee supporting the bees since the lupins finished. We discussed how plants like yarrow can be empty in some gardens and teeming with insects in others.

There are a variety of wasps out now and bees that look like wasps, so it all gets very confusing. But this wasp is acting like a bee.

These twins love phacelia.

This is an empty ladybug pupae case on tansy, which is an escaped old world herb. The honey bees and bumble bees were visiting this plant as well.

 Check out this fabulous new insect hotel made from a decommissioned phone booth by Contexture Design!

 *You must cut off the seed heads of the buddleia before they mature. Plant breeders are developing less fertile cultivars, but the pollen and nectar rewards may not be the same as the weedy ones. We have one that grows out of a crack in the sidewalk in front of our house.