Drunken Bees.

Hokitika Guardian, 8 December 1922, Page 1

Drunken Bees.

LIME-TREE TRAGEDY. LONDON, October 3. A tragedy of a late-flowering lime tree involving a murderous attack by wasps on bees which were apparently helplessly drunk with nectar, lias been described to The Daily Mail by Miss P. Gibbons, of AVoinbourne, Wolverhampton, who witnessed the incident. The tree has always been a source ol mystery, because when it has been in blossom a few days the ground beneath has been found, as Afiss Gibbons says, “a shambles, strewn with the corpses of bees, sonic headless, some legless, while in other cases the whole of the thorax lias boon removed and deposited a few inches from the rest of tho body.” This year the tree bloomed later than over, starting at ti e beginning of this month. Then while the. bees were at work in it, suddenly one dropped from tho ground as though litoless. “We went up to it and touched it. The legs quivered slightly. Then, as we watched, the end of its abdomen began to twitch. Tho bee struggled to remain consciousness, the twitching grow more violent, and at the end of two minutes it flew away straight hack to the lime blossom. At ANY AITTRPERS. “Another intoxicated bee fell down, and no sooner did it reach the ground than a wasp flew up and alighted on its hack. There was a short struggle, dining which the drowsy bee tried to sting the wasp. But tins did not av’il for after several efforts tho wasp stung the bee in the hack of its abdomen, apparent! v killing it. The wasp then bit off one of tbe wings then a log. and hit all round the boo’s head anil dragged the latter off also. “AVo saw several other murders, in every ease, tbe bee being too drunk to defend itself. Only twice, during the afternoon did we see a wasp obtain honey direct from the flowers. In both cases the wasps fell from the tree intoxicated. twitching like the bees, and taking about two minutes to recover. AVasps in that state showed no inclination to fight,” These “murders” continued for about three days, and altogether Aliss Gibbons found about 150 corpses of bees, some of which she bos sent to The Daily Afail. She adds that apparently I lie wasps suffered no casualties.