Dawn's Notes
Buzzing, Bumbling Wonders - June 2024
by Dawn Phelps, RN/LMSW
I grew up in Tennessee on a farm where my sisters and I were free to safely explore our large back yard, woods, and beyond. We romped barefoot from early spring until fall, making memories that have lasted. One of my memories is of bumblebees and hollyhocks. Let me tell you how it worked.
When the hollyhocks were in full bloom in our back yard, my sisters and I would pick off a blossom, just the flower without a stem. We would hold the blossom in one hand like a cup and face the hollyhock stalk with wide-open blooms, waiting for an unsuspecting bumblebee to arrive inside a flower to sample the sweet nectar.
When the bumblebee had settled himself inside the flower, we would quickly clamp the already-picked hollyhock over a blossom on the stalk with the bumblebee inside. Then we had to hold on tightly, really hold on to the two flowers with the trapped bee!
While we held on to the hollyhocks, the bumblebee inside became frustrated and buzzed and buzzed, louder and louder! We had trapped a bumblebee, and we were in charge of the show! It was such fun—at first!
Then, in time, our arms became tired, the game grew old, but inside that hollyhock was a very angry bumblebee! Yes, the only down side to our game was we eventually had to let go, we had to turn loose!
Even though we had done the “bumblebee-hollyhock trick” before, it was always a temptation to do it again, believing that “the next time” we would be faster than the bee! But as a general rule, the bumblebee won. Even though we ran like crazy when we turned loose. We usually got stung, and the pain and ensuing itching seemed to last forever!
Due to my earlier bumblebee stings, as an adult, I had a fairly healthy respect for them. But then I learned that they are usually docile, peaceful insects that do not sting unless they are provoked. I also learned how valuable they are!
Those fuzzy, bumbling, black-and-yellow bees do some pretty remarkable work for this world. Since they have larger unique fluffy bodies, they can generate more body heat to keep themselves warmer than honeybees. Because they can stay warmer, they can begin their pollinating work earlier in the spring and work later into the autumn. They can also begin work earlier each day and work later each evening.
They are strong workers that can carry up to 80% of their body weight in pollen, making them super pollinators for flowers, berries, vegetables, and crops. They have a unique ability of buzz-pollination, similar to vibration, which means they can dislodge and distribute pollen more efficiently than honeybees.
They have shorter wings than honeybees, but they can still fly 7 miles per hour compared to 12 miles per hour of honeybees. Their wings flap 300-400 strokes per second compared to 208-277 per second for honeybees. The buzzing sound that bumblebees makes is from the rapid movement of their wings!
Bumblebees live in smaller colonies of 50-500; honeybees live in hives of 50,000. Bumblebees only live one season, but the queen bumblebee hibernates in the ground during the winter, lays eggs the next spring, and new bumblebees are hatched.
When using the mathematical formula for being able to fly, bumblebees don’t fit the equation because of their big bodies and short wings. But we know they can fly—we see them! And how they fly has been discussed by aeronautical engineers more than once!
In fact, a bumblebee poster supposedly hangs at National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) that says, “The aerodynamic body of bumblebees is not fit to fly, but it’s good that the bumble doesn’t know it.”
A story is told of an aerodynamicist talking to a biologist who asked how bumblebees fly. To answer the biologist’s question, the engineer did a quick “back-of-the-napkin” calculation. He calculated the bee’s weight, wing size, and the uplift generated by their wings. His calculations showed that bumblebees should not have enough lift to fly, but we know they fly anyway! Newer studies have shown that bumblebees may fly differently by flapping their wings back and forth instead of up and down. So bumblebees are not only physically different, they also move differently, and they can still fly!
Bumblebees and grief may have some similarities. First, each of us is different, so we grieve differently. Socially, after a loss, some may prefer less time with people whereas others seek out more. Sometime we have to turn loose of grief and move on. And if it feels like you will never “fly” again, remember healing does come even though we are not sure how that happens!
Similar to bumblebees buzzing along transporting pollen, we can scatter kindnesses around to others, helping us heal along the way. And even though we may feel like we are bumbling our way through grief, if we keep on “flapping,” we will eventually get enough uplift to fly!
Call about the next "Living Life after Loss" Group at:
Meadowlark Hospice
709 Liberty, Clay Center, Kansas
(785) 632-2225
Dawn Phelps, RN/LMSW, Group Facilitator