prys-jones & corbet
















































































































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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)







           













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