Queen bee emerges,
Crawls from the sombre litter,
Leaps into sunlight.
Saw a bumblebee (again) today. Second one of the year! It was up on the ridge at the top of Pegsdon Hills. Was almost certainly a Queen considering the time of year. Unlike honey bees, the poor bumbles only live a few months, the Queens just one year. They form relatively tiny colonies, compared to the thousands in the honeybee hive (who hibernate over winter). Before the old Queen died in the Autumn, she laid some regal eggs, these bumblebee Queens flew away after being fertilised by a male, finding safe warm havens to survive the winter. In spring, they emerge, looking for a spot to create their colony, to being the process again.
I wish her luck! With her bizarrely impossible aerodynamics!
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