Thursday, February the 3rd, 2005

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More About My Bomba

Readers will recall that last week I had a dream in which it was imputed—by a Peter Lorre lookalike—that I had weak Bomba and that my Bomba was not good (see 27th January). I have been puzzling over what this might mean, and what I might do to attain good strong Bomba. Now Pansy Cradledew has provided a possible solution to the mystery.

Dear Mr Key, she writes, By remarkable coincidence, on the very day that you addressed your weak Bomba, I was doing some internet research on bees, as I often do when I find myself at a loose end. From the excellent pages maintained by Hania and Hans*, I learned that bumblebees are of the genus Bombus! In case you are wondering, bumblebees are big and extremely hairy bees. A few species of bumblebees are being bred nowadays to take care of pollination in greenhouses. They turn out to be very useful in growing tomatoes and cucumbers. One can buy colonies in specialized shops and on the internet. When flying most bumblebees are producing lots of noise, attracting our attention that way. They belong to the most beloved of all insects, for they are the perfect messengers announcing spring is on the way. Bumblebees have typical warning colours: black and yellow or black and red. And it is true: all species are capable of stinging. But they are not very willing to do so. We can even take many species in our hand. As long as we don't squeeze them, they won't sting us at all! Only bumblebees laying on their back should never be touched, for this is their typical defence position, indicating they feel threatened and are ready to sting! The poison they inject is harmless, except for those allergic to wasp poison. ( If you are not sure, arrange to have yourself stung by a wasp while a team of experts in insect toxicity stand at the ready, with bleepers.) Bumblebees are typical insects of moderate climate zones, with a few species even surviving arctic conditions. You won't find them in the tropics though. The hairs on the body ensure they don't cool off too soon. But there is more. Just like mammals bumblebees control their own body temperature. They can detach the muscles used to move their wings. And by moving the detached muscles rapidly they produce their own body heat. This is the reason you can sometimes find a motionless bumblebee on the ground or a flower. It is not dying or sick—it does not, as you would say in your dream, “have weak Bomba” — but is simply heating up its own body. But due to the fact that the wings are detached from their muscles it is not capable of flying at the time. Bumblebees keep a body temperature of 34 to 38 Centigrade. Oh, and just to make sure you know what I'm talking about, this is what they look like:

Anyway, it seems clear to me that your dream about Bomba was a dream about two or more Bombuses. There is something bubbling away in your subconscious that makes you preoccupied with weak and “not good” — ill? evil?—bumblebees. I suggest, Mr Key, that you search your soul with rigour. Did you perhaps once stamp on a little Bombus? Yours astutely, Pansy Cradledew

*NOTE : Hania and Hans are seeking help in identifying unidentified wasps. Can you help? Please do what you can by clicking on the picture of the Bombus.