Meet the bee whisperer who, after a string of bumble bee deaths, is trying to save the bees.
A few times a week, Alexandrea Pilloud walks the same route. Lately, she’s been stopping a lot, because she has found about five dying bees per day.
“They’re supposed to be getting nectar and flying,” Pilloud said. “This guy isn’t doing any of the sort. He’s just walking around.”
Pilloud didn’t know it, but there’s a real buzz around dying bees.
Evan Sudgen, a honey bee keeper, is also a professor at the University of Washington, where students learn about why bee populations are declining.
In late summer, worker bees naturally die off. But this year’s heat may have brought the trend earlier than normal.
Pilloud made a desperate attempt to save her most recent find, but she didn’t stop there. She said a little back rub could revive them.
Sudgen said a little tending, loving, care couldn’t hurt.
“I do pet my bees,” he said. “I don’t get a lot of feedback.”
Pilloud said she has rescued a handful of bees and her friends are now calling her the “bee whisperer.”
“Everyone needs a chance at life,” she said. “Just giving these guys a chance at life.”
Pilloud said she plans to collect as many bees as she possibly can.