First bee rescue in many years today. I pay close attention to Hymenoptera; bees, ants and wasps in particular, and bees especially. In the city, where weather changes quickly, a bee can easily find itself grounded by temperature, pollution and/or exhaustion.

This evening I saw a bee on one of the garbage cans in the Garden. The steel was still a bit warm, but the temperature was falling quickly. I noted it, set up a windbreak, and returned after meditation to check on her. As she was still there, and it was getting late and colder quickly, I decided to work with her.

Rescuing a bee is a delicate operation that requires a lot of patience and care. It can take up to an hour or more to get a bee back into the sky. Usually it takes around 20-40 minutes. In our time, that’s more of a commitment than it sounds like.

A bee is incredibly delicate, and when they are cold, they cannot move as quickly as a human might like. So the first thing is to patiently get them onto my hand. Once there, my body heat will begin to warm them, but it can take quite some time, and heat alone may not be enough. Often the bee is exhausted, and needs to rest in the heat for a while to begin the process of reviving, because once they are down, if the sunlight is not on them, they become quiescent.

This bee responded well at first. Warming, and after about 10 minutes, starting to preen. A good sign. But I could sense she was still exhausted. I was lucky to be in the garden and to know that one can get nectar out of the hidden tip of salvia flowers. As there were some nearby, I was able to squeeze a droplet of nectar onto my hand, close enough for her to sense. She drank it slowly for about 8 minutes. After that, she became very still, and I was concerned that I would not be able to get her back into the sky while there was enough light for her to conceivably navigate.

She remained quite still for the next 9 minutes or so. I continued to work with her, encouraging her and reassuring her with my spirit and mind. After a bit, she started to preen more vigorously; a very good sign. About another 6 minutes later…. victory. She took to the sky.

Whenever I succeed at this, I always feel both humbled and victorious at the same time. I love the bees. But not just as an idea. If I can help one, I usually will. Though in the human world, time, circumstances… schedules and noise often interfere.

I was so grateful when she flew away.

Ipharos was nearby the whole time, and very curious about what I was doing in my cupped palms…