Here is Dave Goulson having a cup o'tea after writing A Sting in the Tail. This book was an English Sunday Times Bestseller. How could it be? It's about bumblebees! I think A sting in the tail is a best seller because it's full of personality, humour, mind boggling bumblebee facts and compelling writing. It's brilliant because it humanises and personalises science – in this case entomology. HeartlandThe universal heart of the book is Chapter 2, The Bumblebee Year. We start with starved queens emerging in early spring from long winter hibernation, to desperately look for nectar and pollen. 'They labour slowly through the cold air to find scarce spring flowers.' Then when they have fattened up they look for suitable nesting places – a hole in a tree or a crevice leading to a hollow in a stone wall. In the chosen space they build a nest from whatever dry soft material is there. The queen makes wax cups and lays eggs in them. The eggs become tiny white grubs and finally bees; first female workers, then, later in the season, new queens and males in preparation for the next cycle. 'In high summer, males can be very common. They sit around on flowers drinking nectar; they prefer flowers with big sturdy heads...and gangs of males can often be seen clustered together reminiscent of a group of men propping up the bar in a pub.' Live it up! The male's life is short. His only job is to mate with a new queen. As winter comes he dies. A disappeared species
However Goulson and his fellow scientist were not looking for views. They were looking for splashes of wild flower colour. They found an impressive one in the old tip at Twizel. Here's Goulson after an air journey of 12,000 miles and five days of frustrating searching: 'And here it was on the least scenic spot in all of New Zealand that I caught my first short-haired bumble bee. That night we celebrated with a couple of local beers and an especially large pie each.' Goulson and his mate loved New Zealand meat pies, except the possum pies from Hokitika! Other fascinating stuff and yes, there's a sting in the tailThere's all sorts of stuff in this book. Goulson's boyhood full of insects gives us an insight into the scientist of today, He's a biology professor. The detailed research about how bumble bees navigate, or how they know which flowers are full of nectar or why mating bees go to hilltops, is fascinating for an ordinary person who hasn't specialised in a biological science. It's a sad book though, as well as one providing amusement, laughter and wonder. It stings. Goulson calls New Zealand an 'ecological holocaust'. The book details how the mechanisation and upscaling of agriculture has destroyed habitat in many parts of the world. Bumble bees, which scientists now realise are very efficient pollinators, are in great decline. They, like other pollinators, are essential in human food production. But Goulson also gives hope. Put back habitat! Lots of it! At homeIn our garden Marion and I are trying to bring back more bumble bees. We have had a dearth of them in recent years. Two businesses in our country sell hives of bumble bees. Mainly they sell commercial sized hives for farms and orchards but these firms also put up garden sized packages. We bought such a package. We hope new queens will be born and will hibernate in our and other gardens, to emerge next spring (September) and find nests. The slide show below records our beginnings! The show is playing continuously. The photo of Tony the courier making the delivery is the start. The last slide shows a nesting place I've made for next spring, from a flower pot and a flexible pipe. The bees will mostly find their own places but I'll make a few more sites just to give them more choices. A good read.A sting in the tail is a really good read. I've found it a stimulus. I'm aware of the 'sixth great extinction'. I'm aware that insects are failing in most parts of the world. I know that pollinators are at particular risk. I hope my country and other countries will be able to turn things around. I want to be a part of that even in my own garden. □ John McInnes Friday 29 November 2019 Reference: A Sting in the Tail - Dave Goulson First published in Great Britain by Jonathan Cape Quoted edition Vintage 2014 ISBN9780099575122 Another Ngaio blog Please click on this line to reach another Ngaio blog, The Beret Project, by Daan Koltoff. Be surprised! ##########
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