Found A Bee?

Updated: 1st March 2021

Found a bee and not sure what to do? Is it looking somewhat wet, bedraggled and in a bit of a sorry state?  Should you feed it with sugar or honey?

Usually, it will be a bumble bee that got caught in the rain, but you may also have found a honey bee, or even a solitary bee.

What can you do?

Please note that if the weather is dry, and the bee is simply motionless on a flower, leave it alone. 

It is simply resting (scientists have also confirmed that bees sometimes exhibit characteristics which could be described as 'sleep'), and it will probably become active again in its own time. 

Please do not be tempted to interfere in such cases.  

However, if it's raining and getting dark, and you have found a bee that is very wet, bedraggled and can hardly move, and in an exposed position, you could use a ceramic plant pot with a hole in the bottom, and cover the bumble bee to provide a little extra shelter.

It is best to allow the bee to remain outside, where it can get access to nectar and pollen from flowers.  

If you have no suitable plant pot available, then you could place the bee in a shoe box, ensure there are sufficient air holes so that it can breathe.  Please note, this is the last resort and your aim must be to release it again as soon as possible - the next day. 

Should you feed sugar water to bees?

If you have discovered a bee described in the conditions above, you may offer the bee a solution of sugar water made with clean water and ordinary granulated sugar (do not use artificial or diet sweeteners or demerera sugar). The ratio of sugar to water should be about 1:2 (i.e. one spoon of sugar to two spoons of water).  Please do not offer a higher concentration of sugar than this.

Update:  I have more in depth information on feeding sugar to bees.

Do not use honey, because honey may contain traces of viruses that may be passed on to the wild bee.

Even if you are attempting to revive a honey bee, do not feed it honey – honey bees should only ever be given their own honey, and should not be given honey from other colonies, even if it is organic.

The best way to offer the sugar water is to sprinkle drops of water on to a clean, solid work surface near to the bee, or dip a flower head into it - this could be a dandelion head, for instance.  One gentleman wrote to me to say that he uses moss. 

The bee looks poorly and I am worried.  Will it survive?

The bee may be resting, and not ready to fully emerge from hibernation.  This is one of the reasons why it is better to leave it outside.

If the bee has an internal parasite, it is possible that the bee will not survive. However, bees can surprise us!   

If you encounter a bee with damaged wings or limbs, leave it alone and allow nature to take its course.  Bees do become somewhat more ragged with age, and perhaps after attack, but given the chance, they will continue to be as busy as possible.    I recall sitting on a beach one day when a Bombus pascuorum (Common Carder bee) landed on my shorts.  It clearly had one leg missing, yet flew away moments after.

I received a wonderful email from a reader, Cheryl Colpman It proves that you really can make a difference, and the lady has kindly agreed to allow me to add her experience to this website.  I hope it inspires others:

What if I want to feed the bees?  Is it okay to capture them?

If you want to feed the bees, the best way is to provide bee plants that are rich in nectar and pollen.  Avoid insecticides.

Please do not capture a bee, purely in order to see if it will allow you to feed it. (I hear stories of this – it isn’t helping the bees, it is simply preventing them feeding in a natural way on the things they need, which include the different pollens and nectars from a variety of flowers).

May I keep this bumble bee in a bee house?

Of those who buy bumble bee houses, I would think that most if not all of them, have done so because they wish to help the bees.

However, I have heard of bee houses – particularly bumble bee houses - for sale, with instructions to capture queens, and feed them sugar water for a while in order to persuade them to make a nest in the bee house.

If you have purchased such a bumble bee house, I would ask you: please ignore any suggestion to capture queen bumble bees and trap them inside it.  For a start, you may capture a species that prefers different nesting conditions!

By all means, purchase a bee house, place some hamster bedding in it, and put it in a sheltered area in the shade, away from ants and animals, then let nature take its course.

I believe (although I do not know for sure) that the advice about capturing wild queens may have been based on the particular writings of an individual, who had a lot of experience and knowledge of bumble bees, and who had a garden designed, very well established and planted especially for them.  This gentleman had specific expertise, and a flower packed garden (just the right ones) developed over many years.

Unfortunately, whilst the intentions of people are good, I would say there are very few people with the knowledge and circumstances of this particular gentleman.  For a start, many people will not be aware that some bumble bee species prefer to make their nests on tufts of grass.  There is a risk the bumble bee queen has already begun to rear a colony.  

Therefore, my advice is this: create the conditions to encourage bees into your garden – by creating a bee garden. This is achieved mainly with plants for bees.

There is no need to capture bumble bees to try and force the situation.  If it is a suitable site (which means location, ventilation, available forage, predators, cleanliness etc), bees may find it (although possibly not in the first year).

One of the most promising signs is actually to find that a mouse has made a nest in the bumble bee house first! Some bumble bees love to make homes in abandoned rodent nests, and may occupy it the following year. You can read more about bumble bee nests here. 

In addition, some species of bumble bee may take up residence in a compost heap or abandoned bird house. 

With regard to solitary bee houses, you are  likely to be successful more quickly than with a bumble bee house.  There is no need to capture solitary bees.  If you provide the right conditions and if there are enough of the right kinds of plants in the area, a solitary bee house may be occupied even in its first year, perhaps by mason bees or leafcutters.

There is a bee trapped in a spider web, how can I get it out? 

See my advice about bees trapped in spider web.

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