Working Hard!

  Sometimes I feel sorry for the critters on the Bayou.  It seems that the struggle of survival is real and not for the lazy.  Scavenging for food, finding shelter for little ones and being vigilant of predators is just a few of the things that critters must do on a daily basis.  Now, go figure.  Most of these things are left up to the female.  Very few males do anything other than find their own food and a good bit of the time, that means steal it from the female's stash.  Most kid's books paint a pleasant picture of both the mother and father of critter families helping with daily survival.  It just isn't so.  At least ninety percent of the raising of a family is left entirely up to the mother.  Sure, there are exceptions but it is the rarity.

  With all of the rains that have been pounding us all summer, the ground around the Little Bayou House has been washing down the hill. One solution (a temporary one) was to lay boards down on the ground to make another board path.  This path leads around the north side of the house and is slightly protected from the weather...but not completely. Hard rains pelt the boards with a vengeance but the ground is not eroding so all is good.  At least it is all good for me.  A ground bee has decided that a nail hole in one of the boards is the perfect doorway to her nest.  She has been working like crazy to dig out a tunnel under the board.  A conical mound has been erected on top of the hole and was what alerted me to her handiwork.  The pile was a good four inches tall and every bit of that in diameter.  Then the afternoon thunderstorm came.  Evidence of her work was washed down the hill.  Bright and early the next morning, the bee was at work again. She restacked that dirt as she dug even deeper under the board.  She worked hard to make a nest that would be warm and snug for her little ones.  Again, the rain came.  Again, the pile washed away and she started again.  For three days now, she has dug.  She was not daunted by the bad weather or by Ms. Nycto, the Bayou Princess Cat, demolishing the door to her home.  The fluffy cat pounced on the dirt mound sending it scattering about the boards. The bee worked.  Time and time again, she mounded more dirt.  That tunnel must be huge!

  Ground bees are quite large and build impressive tunnels.  Once the tunnel and its chambers are complete, the bee goes hunting.  She fills the chambers with insects and spiders.  These will feed her larvae when they hatch from the eggs.  Each chamber holds many foodstuffs and a single egg.  The female bee does it all.  She works tirelessly to make sure her species survives.  I cannot say the same for the male.  The male does nothing to help.  He does not dig.  He does not hunt for foodstuffs for the chambers.  All he does is mate then leave.  It is the female that makes sure all goes well and that life for ground bees will continue for another year.  She is one hard worker.

  Once again, I do not mind the critters that live around the Bayou.  Although the female bees will sting you if you grab them, they do not go out of their way to do so.  They are pretty docile, as far as bees and wasps go.  Ground bees are beneficial to have about the garden since they catch so many insects to put in the nesting chambers.  They are also good pollinators!  Some folks get a bit miffed about the dirt mounds but, personally, I sort of like them.  The bees' presence means that my yard and garden are pretty clean of harmful chemicals!  Toxic sprays are bad for bees and bad for humans so using the bees as an indicator of toxicity, I think the place must be pretty safe.  Carry on, Mama Bee.  I hope the rains do not impede your work.  (I say this as I hear thunder in the distance.  Poor Mama. Perhaps if Papa Bee would not be so lazy......)