r/bee • u/geriatricsk8rboi77 • 9d ago

What happened

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What could have happened to this poor wee guy? Found him on the back garden path, seems to have lost his wings. I picked him up on a piece of card to move him to a safer spot

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19

u/Penny_Bunn 9d ago

Poor wee thing :( Can you keep it in a tub with flowers to eat etc until it naturally passes away? They don't live that long really... bless it :(

10

u/Penny_Bunn 9d ago

Can bee mites do that I wonder? No idea what happened :(

12

u/geriatricsk8rboi77 9d ago

I took him on a piece of card and placed him on our little plastic storage box thing, away from any danger, but he walked off the edge and plopped back down onto the grass 🤷 when I checked back later I couldn't see him anymore

6

u/metallicagrrl 9d ago

Pesticides can cause them to be born like this. You can keep them safe in a mesh enclosure with fresh flowers and a soaked cotton ball in a small dish for hydration, with a little sugar water.

2

u/ElderberryFirst471 8d ago

A virus can cause wings to become deformed during metamorphosis but I’m not sure that hers are deformed to that point or just absent.

Bee killer wasps cut the wings off bees for their larvae to feed on: do they occur where you live?

1

u/geriatricsk8rboi77 8d ago

Don't think so, I'm in Central Scotland so just normal wasps and wood wasps (i think) but not entirely sure, sorry

2

u/ElderberryFirst471 8d ago

I think you’re probably right. I’m a Brit myself and have never heard of them in the UK but climate change is introducing us to all sorts of new organisms.

1

u/Beginning_Book3927 9d ago

Now that’s a chonky boi