The Last Bumblebee

"Life is the flower for which love is the honey." - Victor Hugo

This is the first bumblebee I've seen in a while. My husband found it enjoying one of the last purple flowers on the osteospermum plant still blooming in a pot on our front porch.

The bee wasn't doing so well. At one point it wobbled a bit and fell over on its side. My husband, trying to think what to do to make things better, offered the bee a bit of hospitality: a small spoonful of honey, which it seemed to appreciate. It stepped in the honey and then licked it off its front legs.

One of my friends has a husband who is an entomologist. He told her (and then she told me) that the bee was probably nearing the end of its season. So - sad as it makes me to think so - this may have been its last day.

We love our bees. They are important pollinators, and as such are very welcome visitors to our yard and especially to my flowers.

The bumblebees, especially, remind me of tiny teddy bears with wings.

I don't know if there was more we could have done to make the bumblebee comfortable, but if this was indeed its last day, at least it got the solace of this one last glimpse of beauty and a final taste of sweet, sweet honey.