CLOSED: Napping bumble bee?

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crissyr Fayetteville, AR(Zone 7b) Jun 30, 2008

I just wondered why this bumble bee is "napping" on the flowers, if it's napping at all. I've seen 4 of these tonight on these flowers. Is this normal or weird behavior?

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Post #5179846
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suunto Sinks Grove, WV Jun 30, 2008

There are at least two possible explanations: (1) low temperature torpor (unlikely, given your location) and (2) intoxication from pollen or nectar - the pollen and/or nectar of some flowers has been reported to cause a torpor-like state in bees (see http://www.rcplondon.ac.uk/garden/2007-07/index.asp and http://pendle.homestead.com/INTHOSEDAYS.html). Or, they simply decided to take five!

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crissyr Fayetteville, AR(Zone 7b) Jul 06, 2008

LOL! It was cooler that day than normal (an unseasonably odd cold front came through, we had another come through yesterday and tore up all kinds of things around here!) Drunk bees! I was afraid to continue what I was doing, I didn't want them to "wake up" and sting me LOL They seem very mellow mannered.

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