This morning I went to open the dog door in the solarium for Rosey and was met by such terrific buzzing that I jumped back inside and locked the door (leaving an indignant dog still outside - "Why didn't ya open the door for me?")
I went back out to really open the door, and saw the cause of all the buzzing.This "little" fella:
He was about an inch and a half long and was by far the largest and loudest bumble bee I have ever seen and heard! (And I've seen quite a few buzzing around in the good ole' summertime.)
I was going to leave him to buzz 'round 'till death do him part with the world... but then my homeschooler senses took over.
I've never seen a bumble bee that big, or with that color, what is he?
After an unsuccessful search of "black bumble bee with stripe" which came up with this as a search result:
it dawned upon me that maybe a closer look was called for. Also, I felt terrible for leaving the poor thing to die a horrible death knocking itself against the window pane. Bumbles are getting rarer (so I've heard) and I couldn't just let a perfectly good one die! So...
...to the garage for a large vase to hold him in!
Bugs make me skittish. From harmless dead worms on the sidewalk to hideous spiders. Bees are no exception. We have a home video from when we first moved into the house... we're in the backyard and a bee flies near me and I run screaming to the other side of the yard.
So I was very proud of myself when I captured this huge bug in a large vase today.
We think it was either a
Bombus californicus (California bumble bee) or a
Bombus vosnesenskii (yellow-faced bumble bee). The yellow-faced bumble bee is probably more likely.
You just have to look for it in the every day.
Live long and prosper!
