One of those days...

[ostarella]

Today was supposed to be a productive day working outside.

That's about as far as it got.

Started out with a few things to get taken care of online first. Which would have been okay if I hadn't overslept.  Once I got that stuff done, I went out to start the chores by filling the bird feeders - only to discover I was totally out of sunflower seeds. So that meant a trip to town, and picking up a few other things that I needed - after taking time to make sure I had a list of all those "few things" that I needed. Got back, filled the feeders, then remembered I had to make a couple phone calls regarding our tiller - and then wait for people to call me back.

In the meantime, it was getting hotter than hell. Relative to the season and recent weather, anyway. So by the time I went out to start raking and cleaning out the gardens, my still thick winter blood just didn't want to deal with the heat. Plus still being a bit out of shape from the months of little or not activity. So came back in, decided to clean up the house until it cooled off a little outside.

Merrily bustling around the kitchen when this loud - as in, VERY LOUD - buzz raced past my ear. Looked around - HUGE bumble bee bopping around the kitchen. Huge as in good inch and a half.  And not happy. Now, bumble bees are not known for their benevolent attitude anyway - being trapped in a room does nothing to improve that. And he definitely considered me the cause of all his problems.

I have a pathological fear of spiders - my fear of bees is more practical. I've been stung twice in my life and the resulting swelling, pain, stiffness and overall "I'm going to puke my guts out" feeling is not one I wish to relive. So I let him chase me into the bathroom, where I locked him in long enough to get the bug spray. (Yes, chemical-free life nothwithstanding, there's a matter of pure survival instinct - so I do have bug spray. Potent bug spray.) And I spent the next 15 minutes alternating between chasing and being chased.

But I won. :D

So, now my heart is doing it's wonderful little I'm-stressed-out-you-idiot! thumping  and I'm sitting here thinking, I don't give a damn if the gardens ever get cleaned out.

But since we're due for thunderstorms for the next few days, I guess I'll have to get off my ass and work this evening.

But all in all - I'd rather deal with heat and bumblebees than snow and cold. Any day.

Comments

[ostarella.livejournal.com]

The bumble bees I've encountered are definitely aggressive! Whether in the garden or the house. Bumble bees, hornets, wasps, yellow jackets - you don't want to get anywhere near them. Honeybees are a different matter. Maybe because stinging kills them ;-)

Normally we only feed the birds in the winter, but my brother read where it's recommended you feed them year long, so that's what we're doing this year. Although we have to find a different place to hang the feeders - I'd kinda like to use my clothesline over the summer :D

[billy-shriner.livejournal.com]

I feed my birds all year round... just have to make sure the nuts are in a cage, so that the birds don't get whole nuts to feed to their young.

[mossy62.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, must be the american variety that is so agressive. LOL. No, seriously, I've got quite a bit respect for wasps and hornets and don't trust them, but I have so often watched bumble bees in our garden and they never did anything besides minding their own business. Will keep that in mind for my next USA holiday though ;-)

Oh, I'm sure the birds don't mind being fed all year, makes it easier for them. What we do throughout the year is sharing our walnuts with them. Those the squirrels didn't get over winter, that is. But yeah, you might want to offer them another place to feed. Birds don't have much respect for freshly laundred clothes that appear on the line out of nowhere, when it was their place before. LOL.

[beckyblack]

Don't you have those "killer bees" in the US?

We're have a problem with bees disappearing here. Their numbers are severely down due to a couple of bad summers and some disease that's been getting 'em.

[ostarella.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I believe the killer bees are migrating up from South America - last I looked they were in the extreme southern regions.

It's strange about the disappearances - I've heard concerns over here as well, but I didn't delve into it enough to find out the why's and wherefor's ;-)