.
humble-bees
(I) Viola tricolor
only the long hairy tongues
of humble-bees
can satisfy heartsease
(II) To catch a humble-bee
the humble-bee queen
is rather wild & shy
best caught at evening
the trick is to
bend down low
& blow in the hole
(the bees being
sensitive to disturbance
Sladen’s suggestion
is to breathe
through the corners
of your mouth)
(III) They have been known to nest in
a rolled-up carpet
disused armchair
under a lawn-mower
in an old sink
within a heap of coal
under a garden shed
in a cotton-reel
an old cushion
a robin’s nest
a decomposing vole
and one even nested
inside an old fishing-net
float
(IV) Perfume
males attract
their queens
with fragrant
perfumes
‘At the end of August 1910, my study was most pleasantly perfumed, day after day by the males in a nest of B. lapidarius that was standing on a table there’
(F.W.L.S.)
(V) Marking your bumblebee
first cool your queen
in the fridge
for 30 minutes
(please note: her
subsequent behavior
may alter)
(VI) B. praetorum
in the cool
early
morning
small
acro-
batic bees
may be
seen
h o v e r i n g
&suddenlydarting
(VII) Emerson's zigzag
'let me chase thy waving lines'
– 'The Humble-bee'
sailor
swimmer
lover
voyager
rover
sleeper
F. W. L. Sladen, The Humble-bee
Oliver E. Prys-Jones & Sarah A. Corbet, Bumblebees
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Poems (Vol V. The Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson)
(I) Viola tricolor
only the long hairy tongues
of humble-bees
can satisfy heartsease
(II) To catch a humble-bee
the humble-bee queen
is rather wild & shy
best caught at evening
the trick is to
bend down low
& blow in the hole
(the bees being
sensitive to disturbance
Sladen’s suggestion
is to breathe
through the corners
of your mouth)
(III) They have been known to nest in
a rolled-up carpet
disused armchair
under a lawn-mower
in an old sink
within a heap of coal
under a garden shed
in a cotton-reel
an old cushion
a robin’s nest
a decomposing vole
and one even nested
inside an old fishing-net
float
(IV) Perfume
males attract
their queens
with fragrant
perfumes
‘At the end of August 1910, my study was most pleasantly perfumed, day after day by the males in a nest of B. lapidarius that was standing on a table there’
(F.W.L.S.)
(V) Marking your bumblebee
first cool your queen
in the fridge
for 30 minutes
(please note: her
subsequent behavior
may alter)
(VI) B. praetorum
in the cool
early
morning
small
acro-
batic bees
may be
seen
h o v e r i n g
&suddenlydarting
(VII) Emerson's zigzag
'let me chase thy waving lines'
– 'The Humble-bee'
sailor
swimmer
lover
voyager
rover
sleeper
F. W. L. Sladen, The Humble-bee
Oliver E. Prys-Jones & Sarah A. Corbet, Bumblebees
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Poems (Vol V. The Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson)
.