Wednesday 21 June 2017

Adrian would have known



When you flew in through the window
You were very cross
And buzzy.
I helped you to leave
But you weren't grateful at all.
I googled hornet,
Just in case.
But you are bombus lapidarius,
And a queen, at that.
Do you sting?
I suspect that you do.
This is one for Adrian, I thought.
(I also thought,
Is this a poem?
Probably not.
But I've read
Worse
Verse.)

13 comments:

  1. Red Tailed Bumble Bee it is but I suspect it's a male as it has a yellow head, they can ting but rarely do. It's very handsome.

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    1. Adrian, the one I saw had a black head, I think. it was HUGE!

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    2. I was going by the picture. Black head is a Queen if it was large.

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  2. Hornets look (and sound!) very different, as you have no doubt found out via google. This spring/summer, I have had a hornet in my bedroom and some weeks later another one in the kitchen. Both times I managed to help them find their way back out. It was a little scary but I must also say I am in awe of them, they are beautiful and seem so powerful and much less aggressive than wasps. I would recognise that deep buzzing sound anywhere, it is much "more" than how any other bee, bumble bee or wasp sounds.
    In Germany, hornets are protected, and you are not allowed to kill them or destroy their nest.

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    1. Meike, I wouldn't dream of harming a hornet (though I've no idea whether or not English hornets enjoy the same status as German ones)!

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  3. Although I have been up close and cosy with hornets in France they were on the other side of a camera lens and therefore I was invisible to them. If I met one here then I'm afraid that, as with wasps, I would break my rule not to harm creatures if I can avoid it.

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    1. Graham, my rule of thumb is never to harm anything that's not threatening to harm me. House flies are an exception. But this Thing looked seriously dangerous...

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  4. Yes it is a poem and I love it. Bit scared of anything waspy though!

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    1. Maggie, are you one of those people who wave their arms and panic when they see a wasp? Surely not. We give wasps their own saucer of jam and let them get on with it.

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  5. I'd call it a poem!
    I try hard to remain calm when anything buzzes around me, but they are often agitated by others.
    I like that you give them some jam, and hopefully they keep away from you then?

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    1. I'm afraid the idea is that they get stuck in it and die Maria. I just swat them!

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    2. Thanks, MarIa!

      Maggie, they don't get stuck and die if you just spread a little. Give it a try!

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