do bees help other bees in distress

[DIPSYDOLL]

l have plastic tube buried in my lawn for the whirlygig washing line to go into when l dry clothes l was out there about 6wks ago and could hear v loud humming and eventually found it was coming from this plastic tube in the lawn , there were about 6 bees in there l got a small stick and popped it down carefully so they could grab on and slowly got them out one by one though l must say the last 3 were exhausted , l popped all of them on a bush to rest and lm happy to say they all survived and went on their way but why were there so many down there did they try to help each other??
does anyone know ??

[JRsbugs]

It's possible a few went into the same place for shelter and couldn't get out, but I also think they try to help one another. If they were all the same type of bee the survival of the nest depends on their survival. Do you have any idea if they were bumblebees or not?

I once had a small hoverfly in a waterlily flower which had a little water in the centre, it kept trying to get out but couldn't. I saw another of the same species frantically flying over the top, then it went in and got stuck too! I helped them both out and left them to dry out.

Janet

[Beekeeper]

DIPSYDOLL
Bees especially honey bees are quite mercenary insects, for instance if one becomes ill, the other bees refuse it food until it is weak then they eject it from the hive, literally.

The idea for this is to preserve the others, maybe the bee became ill through infection of some sort and the bees survival instinct tells them to do what is required to save the others from the same fate.

So in answer to your question, no honey bees do not help each other, apart from their queen or young, what could be a possibllity in your case is that the hole for slotting the washing line into was maybe partially full of water and the bees could just have been having a drink and fell in the water which does happen often, especially with smooth sided objects.

There may be other bees that do help each other but i am not aware of it

BK

[Gill Catton]

I know wasps emit a pheremone (or something similar) is threatened (especially if crushed) in order to attract defenders (which ultimately may help defend the colony from a predator) do bees not do something similar?

I am quite supised that the bees couldn't fly out what was the diameter of the hole?

Originally Posted by Beekeeper

DIPSYDOLL
Bees especially honey bees are quite mercenary insects, for instance if one becomes ill, the other bees refuse it food until it is weak then they eject it from the hive, literally.

The idea for this is to preserve the others, maybe the bee became ill through infection of some sort and the bees survival instinct tells them to do what is required to save the others from the same fate.

So in answer to your question, no honey bees do not help each other, apart from their queen or young, what could be a possibllity in your case is that the hole for slotting the washing line into was maybe partially full of water and the bees could just have been having a drink and fell in the water which does happen often, especially with smooth sided objects.

There may be other bees that do help each other but i am not aware of it

BK

[Beekeeper]

Originally Posted by Gill Catton

I know wasps emit a pheremone (or something similar) is threatened (especially if crushed) in order to attract defenders (which ultimately may help defend the colony from a predator) do bees not do something similar?

I am quite supised that the bees couldn't fly out what was the diameter of the hole?

Yes, bees if threatened do produce a rather strange smell the seems to cause the others to attack in mass which can be a bit painful, also if one gets accidentally trapped when moving frames around, they beat their wings really fast which seems to produce vibrations at a frequency the other bees understand means that one of their mates is under threat, which usually results in more stings for me.

As such they don't defend each other but their home as a whole.

BK

[DIPSYDOLL]

Originally Posted by JRsbugs

It's possible a few went into the same place for shelter and couldn't get out, but I also think they try to help one another. If they were all the same type of bee the survival of the nest depends on their survival. Do you have any idea if they were bumblebees or not?

I once had a small hoverfly in a waterlily flower which had a little water in the centre, it kept trying to get out but couldn't. I saw another of the same species frantically flying over the top, then it went in and got stuck too! I helped them both out and left them to dry out.

Janet

yes they were all bumble bees , lm so glad l found them

[DIPSYDOLL]

Originally Posted by Gill Catton

I know wasps emit a pheremone (or something similar) is threatened (especially if crushed) in order to attract defenders (which ultimately may help defend the colony from a predator) do bees not do something similar?

I am quite supised that the bees couldn't fly out what was the diameter of the hole?

about 2" wide but it also had a cover connected to it and was partially over it