C. M. Duffy

Pollinator Painters,2022

acrylic on panel

I’m telling y’all that if you don’t jump around erratically bc a wasp or hornet flies close to you, you’ll have less interaction time with them

If you’re nervous about them (not yknow. allergic. let’s not intentionally misinterpret what I’m saying) ignore them. And I do mean IGNORE. Don’t react.

Also, are you watering or generally handling a source of liquid and they won’t leave you alone? Share some at a distance from yourself. Hell are you eating and they want some? Share it.

Honestly if people treated them with the calmness and affection they show bees they’d have better experiences.

Anyway, have a little plate for the yellowjackets when you picnic. They are eating the bugs that you don’t like so offer them a gift.

Please stop telling me about your allergies. If you gotta bolt bc you could DIE just do it.

Clearly, that means this message is not for you. Move on.

When I’m going to hang out in the yard I usually bring a banana or some other fruit, that I eat right away (because sitting outside and eating fruit is cool) and then I leave the peel/husk/core out someplace, not adjacent to where I’ll be sitting/working. The bees and wasps (and flies) will all zero in on it and have a lil party, and I can do what I’m doing without constant interference. (It’s the same as feeding your pets before you sit down to eat a meal — it distracts them from begging, and honestly a lot of dogs and cats prefer to eat along with their people. I know, it’s odd, but nice.)

Wasps are often more combative in the summer because they’re thirsty. Putting out a little dish of water for them is good. I was in the Spanish mountains one summer and put out a plate of water for the wasps whenever I was bathing, so they didn’t try to drink off me.

Yeah usually if you take a shallow dish out with water and even bits of food (especially fruit) while outside doing activities like reading/swimming/picnics/camping etc you’ll really take the aggression out of most wasps. They’re usually just hungry or thirsty. Just don’t set up camp right next to their nest lol

hi, i have had several near-death anaphylaxis events from yellowjacket stings and i have to carry an epi-pen. if a wasp stings me and i am not immediately stabbed with a large dose of epinephrine, i will suffocate and die within a few minutes. it is very likely i have brain damage from hypoxia from a wasp sting when i was about 4. so pay attention to what i am about to say:

all of the above advice works 100%. wasps and bees and all stinging critters are very very unlikely to sting you if you stay calm and move slowly. they are VERY LIKELY to sting you if you move quickly and jerkily, and are guaranteed to try to sting you if you attempt to kill them. they are not hunting you, they are not stupid, they know you are the size of a skyscraper. they will ONLY sting you if they believe you are trying to hurt or kill them.

many species of wasps, and especially yellowjackets, are solitary or social predators/scavengers. they are extremely intelligent, and aware of you as a fellow creature, whatever that may mean to their bug intelligence.

they are not mindless computers, they are more like little cats or wolves. and they are just doing what it takes to make a living on god’s gay earth: looking for food and water for their children 

it is very possible to change how you feel about things you are afraid of, even if you have a clinical phobia. for me, that always starts with knowing more about the thing that scares me.

Here’s a good article on the subject if anyone’s curious! It goes into more detail about public perception of wasps. It not only talks about wasp’s ecological importance, but also how scientific understanding can work to change public opinion on wasps and their nests. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/een.12676 “ Why we love bees and hate wasps  “

I’m so so glad I chose to click on the notifications on my post again.

This is exactly why I made this post—not that I expect everyone to fall head over heels in love with these creatures but to see their importance beyond the cultural knee-jerk reaction because of the reductive view we’ve cultivated of them.

I’m also not saying that they’re never somewhat unpredictable and that they’ll never hurt you—just like any other creature they have the capacity too. It’s just very much increased when the reaction to them is to flail and swat and scream.

Thank you guys for your thoughtful additions to this post I appreciate beyond words. Pls continue to carry this level of care and education as our friends wake for winter and start flying around again!

For those who are deathly afraid of them and would like tips to avoid being around them—dark surfaces facing sunlight, standing water, garbage and compost piles, and rotten wood are going to be their favorite spots as our hemisphere warms for the season. Avoid those to minimize possible contact with wasps, hornets, and other insects waking for spring

Chonky bee! Pattern (Ravelry)

Please ignore the mess

this from the guy who wrote the sting pain index, a scale he constructed after letting himself be stung by insects

“why did i start this list” pleaseeeeeee this is so funny

Also i dont know if you guys have ever seen medieval beekeeper garb, but:

Its the best!!!

Nope!

Woodcut from 1545! 😊 respect our basket faced cousins 😡

The Beekeepers, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1568

Now that plague doctors are cultural icons I want these to be next and I hope we arbitrarily decide that the two are somehow rivals.

why would they be rivals, they're dating and bop their masks together to kiss

The birds and the bees

!!!

They’re dating  ❤️

Lara Hacker on Instagram

Apparently a part of the reason why farmed bees stay in the beehives that humans build for them is because the farm hives are safer and sturdier. I don't know how a busy Discord server's worth of bugs that only have one brain cell each would logically conclude that the humans protect them from outside threats, illness and parasites, but if I understood right, the bees would be free to move away and build a new nest somewhere else any time they'd want, and they simply choose not to.

You know how in almost every culture, people have some concept of "if I sacrifice something that I made/grew/produced to the Gods, they will ward me and my harvest from evil"?

So, in a way, don't the bees willingly sacrifice a part of their harvest to an entity not only far greater than them, but nearly beyond their comprehension, in exchange for protection against natural forces wildly outside of their own control?

So tell me, beekeepers, what are you to your bees, if not a mildly eldritch God?

The fantasy of the human being is infinite, enjoy the piece that you get.  By Key Monster

Also i dont know if you guys have ever seen medieval beekeeper garb, but:

Its the best!!!

Nope!

Woodcut from 1545! 😊 respect our basket faced cousins 😡

The Beekeepers, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1568

Now that plague doctors are cultural icons I want these to be next and I hope we arbitrarily decide that the two are somehow rivals.

why would they be rivals, they're dating and bop their masks together to kiss

The birds and the bees

!!!

They’re dating  ❤️

Normal Horoscope:

Aries: Youre holding on pretty damn hard. Look. You’re bleeding. Let me take that for you. Just for a little while.

Taurus: Nothing left. Theres nothing left. Nothing but the cold wind. Yet something still burns inside. You will emerge from this a beast. 

Gemini: Decay flies a banner of black and green.

Cancer: Loneliness doesn’t make a good story. We all spend far too much time alone with our thoughts. Even escape needs compatriots.

Leo: Dizziness is not normal. Take a breather. We can trade stories.

Virgo: We twist things into better memories. Enough time and things like that can become art. For better and for worse.

Libra: Pieces of this pieces of that. What do you think you are? Nothing but a ramshackle like the rest of us.

Scorpio: You have to trust something.

Ophiuchus: Holding off the chaos is easier done with a friend.

Sagittarius: That could be you in a few years. Keep your feet about you.

Capricorn: So many threads so many roots. You are just the trunk dear thing.

Aquarius: The bees alight on your shoulders. They share very very small things with you.

Pisces: It wont take long.

“The prophecy did say ‘no man of woman born’… but you are not what I was expecting.” The old witch peered beadily over her spectacles. “I thought the hero would be a young lady, or someone delivered by C-section, or maybe the child of a transgender man. Not… whatever you’re supposed to be.” She gestured vaguely at Cam with a wizened and knobbly hand.

“I am an automaton, ma’am.”

The witch scoffed. “An Ottoman? The empire may be large, hero, but it is not that large. I’d know if there were metal men stomping around in some far-off corner of the world. Don’t lie to me, hero. I’ll smell it.”

Cam dipped its head. “I am a mechanical construction, assembled by a master craftsman. I can perform many actions like a living thing, if my springs are wound beforehand.”

“PAH!” The witch spat. “So humans send clocks to slay dragons now, is that right? Pathetic!”

“To be fair,” said Cam, “I am a very nice clock.”

The witch huffed, but her scowl cracked into a toothy grin. “Ahh, so you are. Polite, too, an’ that’s rare these days. Come in, hero, an’ I’ll see if I can’t find a boon to grant you.”

Cam stood up and dusted itself off. “I beg your pardon, sir, but I am on a quest and in a hurry. Could you tell me how to get out of this place? My compass was damaged by a troll, and I am very lost.”

“You chipped my fang!” The vampire‘s words were muffled as he held his hands over his mouth.

“I am very sorry, sir,” said Cam. “I would have warned you, but you jumped on me before I had the chance. Will you be alright?”

“No!” The vampire glowered. “I’ve been stalking you all night and now I’m starving! All I wanted was blood!”

“I haven’t got any of that,” Cam apologized. “I am only an automaton.”

“No blood?” The vampire’s shoulders slumped. “Well, what about oil…? Lubricant…? Any kind of vital fluid?”

“I’m afraid not. Can you actually drink lubricant?”

“I dunno. I’ve never tried,” said the vampire, shrugging. “Honestly, it all sounds good about now. I haven’t fed in weeks!”

Cam opened its chest to reveal the jungle of complex machinery inside. “I am made entirely of clockwork,” it said. “I am sorry to inconvenience you.”

The vampire squinted suspiciously at Cam’s clicking gears and took a step back. “Any of your bits made of silver?” There was a note of anxiety in his voice.

“I don’t think so.” Cam looked down at itself. “I’m mostly brass, as far as I can tell, with steel reinforcements…”

“Just checking. Sorry if that was an invasive question, it’s just, you know, I’ve got an allergy to silver and all… I’ve got to be careful.” The vampire looked away sheepishly.

“Oh!” Cam shut its chest and opened a compartment on its thigh. “I always carry an EpiPen! You never know when someone will need it.”

The vampire’s jaw dropped. The very tip of one of his fangs had broken off. “Those things are so expensive! I haven’t owned one since I was alive!”

“I don’t need it,” said Cam, and offered it to the vampire. “If your silver allergy is that dangerous, it should be yours. Go ahead - keep it.”

“Really?! But… I just tried to eat you…”

“Lots of people have.” The automaton shrugged. “I’ve gotten used to it.”

The vampire reached out a thin white hand and reverently accepted the cylinder of medicine. He looked at Cam with an odd expression. “Thank you…” His voice came out choked. “I… don’t know what to say… how can I repay you, automaton?”

“Payment is not necessary. I do not need to eat or drink or pay for room and board… but if it’s not too much trouble, could you show me how to get out of these woods?”

The vampire nodded gravely.

[Content warning: SWARMS!]

The little bee returned and buzzed around Cam’s head. “I am back!” she said brightly. “I brought some of my sisters to meet you!”

Cam held out its hand and the three worker bees alighted gently upon its palm. “Hello,” it said. “My name is Cam. I am pleased to meet you!”

“My sisters are quiet,” said Scout. “But they are the wisest and bravest in the clan.” She did an odd little dance on the swell of Cam’s thumb. “See, sisters?! I found it - all by myself! Isn’t it wonderful?”

“It is very strange,” said the largest bee, regarding it critically with her tiny compound eyes and twitching her antennae. “I have never seen a tree that moved so much.”

“I am not a tree,” said Cam. “I am an automaton; a very complicated kind of machine. Do you think can help me? I carried an old man across a river, but my legs have rusted and I cannot move them.” It pointed at its knees. “I am stuck here and cannot continue my quest until I am freed.”

The bees whispered to each other. Scout wiggled excitedly for a moment, speaking in a hushed voice, and then the largest bee spoke again. “We are only three little worker bees and can do little on our own,” she said. “But we serve a clan of fifteen thousand strong, and the strength of the hive cannot be measured!” Her tiny voice swelled with passion. “Our queen will know what to do - we will return and consult with her now.”

The three bees took off and sped away in the direction of their hive. Scout lingered for a moment, buzzing, and Cam waved at her gratefully. Then she zipped off in pursuit of her sisters.

Cam stood still, listening to the steady ticking of its gears. In the distance it could hear the faintest rumble of thunder, and hoped that the bees would hurry back and free it before it began to rain. Ten minutes passed, then twenty, and the storm grew nearer and nearer. Just as the automaton began to lose hope, it heard a low humming from beyond the trees that grew louder and louder, until the leaves erupted with motion.

Thousands upon thousands of bees burst into the clearing. The air became thick with sound and motion as the insects churned it with their tiny wings, circling around and around in a dark, dense cloud. Some began to land on Cam.

“I brought my family!” said a tiny voice. Scout had to shout to be heard over the loud droning of the swarm. 

“Thank you!” said Cam, raising its arms slightly to avoid crushing the bees that were now clinging to its sides. “I am very grateful for your help!”

Scout landed on its nose and peered at it intently. “Our queen is very tired, and we have all traveled very far with no food. We must rest now before we get to work.”

“I understand,” said Cam. “I would not ask you to exhaust yourselves.”

Scout hopped from foot to foot to foot as more bees began to land. “Splendid!” she exclaimed. “We must find cover from the storm, or many of us may die. Will you let us shelter within you?” 

“Oh,” said Cam. “Okay.” It could already feel little fuzzy bodies squirming through the gaps of its knees.  

“We thank you, friend Cam!” 

The air began to still as all the bees settled to rest on the automaton’s body, forming a thick, humming blanket that covered it from head to toe. Some found gaps and crevices at its joints and squeezed inside, and others followed. Cam opened its mouth to ask how long they would need to rest, but bees clambered over its brass lips and upward into its face. To speak would be to crush them between moving gears. 

Soon, the entire hive had found its way inside. The soft clattering of millions of tiny feet upon the inner surface of Cam’s brass sheeting echoed in its head, drowning out the sound of its own ticking clockwork. Dark clouds rolled overhead and rain began to patter on the automaton’s body. Most of the water rolled off harmlessly, but some trickled in through the seam of its neck, where more vulnerable mechanics were located. Cam readjusted carefully.

“Please stop moving!” shrieked a tiny voice inside its head. “You’re hurting us!”

“I am sorry! I did not mean–”

“Don’t speak!” The little voice was desperate. “It hurts when you speak!”

Cam fell quiet and waited for morning.

When the sun rose, some of the bees began to stir. Workers clambered out of its torso and stretched their little legs, humming softly to themselves before rising into the air and flying off. Cam watched them go curiously.

“We are all very hungry,” explained Scout, stifling a yawn. “Most of us have not eaten in days, but there is a field nearby full of sweet yellow flowers. We must collect nectar and pollen for our queen and brothers to regain our strength.”

Cam nodded very slightly, eliciting buzzes of irritation inside its head. 

The next morning, it tried to ask again, but the queen was busy laying eggs and could not be disturbed from her most noble duty. 

On the fourth day, Cam had to interrupt the business of the hive. Its mainspring was unwinding and needed to be tightened by turning the key in the center of its back, just like any clock. If it unwound completely, the automaton would run out of kinetic energy and become senseless and immobile.  

“I’m sorry, friend Cam!” said Scout. “But my baby sisters have only just hatched, and they need to be tended to! They are soft and legless things, and cannot leave their cells. You will surely kill them if you move! Please do not hurt them!”

On the seventh day, Cam found itself unable to move. Its mainspring was very loose and it had to speak with great effort, for thick honeycombs had been built around delicate mechanics, paralyzing it from within. It could not move its arms to reach its winding key.

“You tricked me,” it said in a weak voice. “I thought that you were going to help me.”

 “I have helped my clan,” retorted Scout. “There can be no evil in that.”

“I am going to shut down,” said Cam. “And there is no one around to wake me up again.”

Scout sighed and rubbed her antennae with her front legs. “To die for the good of the hive is a great honor. You are a worker too, friend Cam! We both serve, and you can serve so many lives!”

Cam could not argue with that even if it wanted to, for its gears were gummed up with honeycomb. The slow, labored ticking of its clockwork could just be heard over the steady hum of the hive within.

Tick.

Tock.

Tick…

And then it was still, and Cam was aware of nothing more, until the great snuffling and slurping of a shaggy beast interrupted its oblivion. 

“Stupid. Fucking. Ugh! Bees!” The bear snorted in annoyance, and pawed again at Cam’s back. 

The automaton slipped in and out of consciousness several times as the bear roughly investigated its body. The animal cursed profusely under her breath and swatted bees off her nose, but persisted, nipping and scratching at Cam’s mechanisms in search of openings or weaknesses. 

A chunk of honeycomb was knocked loose by the bear’s abuse. “Help!” Cam cried, voice weak and rusty from disuse. “Please - help me!”

“You are the chattiest beehive I’ve ever met,” grumbled the bear, and raised its paw for a crushing blow.

“I am not a beehive. I am an automaton.” 

The bear paused. “What…?”  

“An automaton is a type of clockwork machine,” Cam began, but the bear grunted impatiently.

“I know what a damn automaton is,” she growled. “But what do you mean, you are not a beehive? I can smell honey inside of you.”

Cam could feel its mainspring loosening again and spoke quickly. “If you help me, I will show you how to get it out. I know many useful things and may be of great use to you! You must… wind my key… as tight as it will…”

The automaton came to again, lying flat on its face in the dirt. “…go. Oh. Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.” The bear snapped at the small brigade of bees that charged out of Cam’s mouth and dove towards her face, shrieking their fury. “Now - let’s see that honey!” A long, pink tongue shot out and lapped across the beast’s great maw in anticipation. 

“Well,” said Cam, ignoring the panicked screaming inside its head, “Right now, the honey is secured inside an intricate system of gears and rotating plates, some of which are very sharp, and might damage your most honorable tongue. If someone as gentle and powerful as yourself were to bring me out of the shade and into bright sunlight, the heat could melt the honey into a more convenient state, and you could feast without concern.”

The bear’s small eyes narrowed. “Hmm. Flattery will get you everywhere, little beehive - you are as clever as you say. Very well.” With that, she clamped her massive jaws around Cam’s ankle and pulled, dragging the little brass machine none-too-gently across the forest floor.

“Please!” cried ten thousand voices as one. “For the good of the hive, do not let this happen!”

“I am very sorry,” said Cam. “I do not wish to hurt you, but I must continue my quest. I serve my own queen, for whom I was crafted. I cannot allow you to keep me from my purpose.”

“But the clan! Think of the clan! There are children inside of you!”

“You must take your queen and find a new home - for the good of the hive.” Cam opened its mouth as wide as it would go. “Please… leave while you can! I would not see you harmed.”

The bees hummed and fussed and buzzed and danced in furious argument, stamping their feet and clicking their mandibles. Cam was so focused on listening to them that it did not register where it was until the bear dragged it to the edge of a rocky shelf and opened her mouth, dropping its leg with a loud clang.

“That looks very steep,” it said.

The bear snorted. “Damn right it is.”

“What are–” And then the automaton was rolling, bouncing, and crashing down the hill. Bees poured out of its mouth in a terrified cloud as chunks of honeycomb broke off and rattled around inside Cam’s brass casing. 

The automaton came to rest some distance away from the bottom of the hill and lay on its back, staring up at the hot sun and the clear blue sky. Experimentally, it raised an arm, and then it turned its head. Everything appeared to still be working.

The bear approached after some time and settled on her haunches, looking down at the clockwork machine. Without the bees to cool it, Cam’s metal body was scorching hot, and even the mass of honeycomb had melted. “How are you feeling, beehive?”

“Functional,” said Cam. “And… very, very sticky.”

New species of bat found, Niumbaha superba, and it’s adorable.

Oh wow! I’m glad people are as excited about animals as I am. Here’s some additional photos. Fun fact: this bat is so different from others that a new genus was created!

new bat!

BEE BAT

Bumble bat

Its apparently commonly known as the pied bat or badger bat ... and yeah I feel personally offended that it wasn’t called the bee bat

its gonna

bdsm stands for

Bees Do So Much for the environment

First #kickstarter commission done💖😊🐝 #beegirl #insectgirl #monstergirl #pinupstyle #pinupart #copicmarkers #gouache

excuse me? but what the fuck

Daily Paint 1783# Zombee Hivemind

Daily Paintings Book now available: http://ForgePublishing.com/shop

For full res WIPs, art, videos and more: https://www.patreon.com/piperdraws

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