Even though we tend to not like insects and crush them with all our might, they do not deserve such a harsh treatment because apparently, they have soft, cuddly hearts.
Something quite unbelievable happened to a library assistant named Fiona Presly from Inverness about a year ago. She realized there was a queen bumblebee in her garden which seemed a bit disoriented. She said: “I picked her up and noticed there was something peculiar. She had no wings.” Listening to common sense, she gave the little bee some sugar water and left it alone hoping it would manage on its own.
However, after checking on her new friend, she saw that it didn’t move at all. She decided to take action since the storm was fast approaching: “I took her inside that night, kept her warm and fed her more” she said.
“I thought I would put her out the next day, but the weather was bad then too. So I kept her inside.”
On contacting Bumblebee Conservation Trust, she learned that the bee may have had a virus which caused its wings not to develop properly. This meant that the bee had a small chance of survival in the wild.
Kind-hearted Presly decided to give the bee a safe home to live. The private garden she made had a lot of colorful flowers for it to pollinate and it was enclosed in netting to keep other bees away while she was feeding it sugar water at times and bringing it inside in stormy weather.
In time, the two built a close relationship to a point where it was unbelievable: “She seemed so happy to see me. It made me stop and think — there’s something going on here. I think she liked the fact that she wasn’t alone.
I think she thrived on a company, even from another species. They are naturally sociable creatures. That would be in their instinct.”
Thanks to Presly’s care and love, Bee outlived its average lifespan but as everything does, its life came to an end.
This experience left Presly with a new perception and appreciation of insects. When, after five months, Bee passed away in her hands, she gave it a little funeral, buried it in her garden along with a favorite flower.
