Bee rescusitation in progress!

I was gardening most of the day - plus making up bags of old clothes for the charity shop. I'm parting with garments I have loved, but since they are too big for me now, they have to go. (Feels good once you've done it.)

My aim today was to photograph bumblebees. I've been asked to advise some staff at the North Pennines AONB about bee photography so I thought I should start by proving I could take satisfactory images myself...... Hardly a bumblebee to be found. A few were high amongst the apple blossom.

I photographed a pansy I planted. Hmm.

Then, this evening, I found an exhaused bumblebee in the conservatory. It had been struggling to get out through the glass. I popped it near a blob of honey and it was soon tucking in. By the time I had the tripod, camera, suitable lens, flash etc ready, the proboscis was retracted and it was beginning to make signs of moving.

So there you have it. The rescue of the day. I hope it will be fully recovered soon to do more pollinating.