I knelt down and scooped out all the gunky gooey stuff , weeds and pine needles, laying them to one side to allow any wildlife to crawl to safety...there was no wildlife that I could see , so I decided to totally refresh the water.
I heaved up this very heavy little barrel from one side , still watching for any frogs or newts and let the water slowly trickle away amongst the herbs , it didn,t smell too bad and in fact there came that lovely earthy patchouli fragrance as it soaked into the parched soil around .
The water now two thirds gone , but still holding that heavy barrel , I happened to glance down to see .... gulp ....an open nest of furry bumble bees ..... not angry , but definitely surprised . Oh ! Lord ! What to do now ? ! ! The earth had slipped away on the side where I had tipped out the water ! I had to think and deal with this situation very quickly !
" Firmness and presence of mind in all situations " - a Ray Mears quote .
No ! I didn,t get a photo !
So with fuzzybees clinging to my blouse sleeves , I quickly finished tipping away the water , noticing as I did so that the barrel was concave underneath and the main part of this exquisite nest , was in the middle and the bees had made several entrance hole through the earth underneath ; I had to make sure that they could still get in and out , so I placed a rock under one edge and gently made a new entrance through with a stick ....just in case the bees entrance s had collapsed .
I dont think any of the bees were injured , thank God , I really tried my best here !
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