I live in Mumbai, a big city. The civic body has planted trees along the roadside, but that is not enough to qualify the city as a green belt. We have a number of potted plants in our balcony. Many of them are flowering plants. Perhaps they attract bees, insects and birds. Some of the bees sting, but we bear with it because we love the flowers and the greenery.
That day I was home after a busy day at the hospital. I was lying down in my bed, in the most comfortable position I could find, reading the morning's newspaper. Suddenly something pink flew in and disappeared behind the curtain. I thought it must be a trick played by a tired mind and tired eyes. A couple of minutes later the trick was played again. I got curious. I stood up on the cot and looked behind the curtain.
"Eek!" I thought. There were about half a dozen pink flower petals there. As I stood thinking, in came another pink petal through the window. It was a bee carrying the petal which had come from our own potted plant.
I called my wife. While I was explaining what had happened and she was trying to understand it, in flew the bee with another petal bigger than its body.
"Eek!" my wife said. Both of us had not seen or heard of anything like this before. Finally I Googled it, and found that someone in Mexico had reported this too. Such bees build nests out of flower petals. Apparently this was the first case reported in India. This also happens to be the first picture of such a phenomenon on the net - there are no such images on Google Images. I have posted that image for anyone who sees such a thing in future and does a Google search to find out what it is.
That day I was home after a busy day at the hospital. I was lying down in my bed, in the most comfortable position I could find, reading the morning's newspaper. Suddenly something pink flew in and disappeared behind the curtain. I thought it must be a trick played by a tired mind and tired eyes. A couple of minutes later the trick was played again. I got curious. I stood up on the cot and looked behind the curtain.
"Eek!" I thought. There were about half a dozen pink flower petals there. As I stood thinking, in came another pink petal through the window. It was a bee carrying the petal which had come from our own potted plant.
I called my wife. While I was explaining what had happened and she was trying to understand it, in flew the bee with another petal bigger than its body.
"Eek!" my wife said. Both of us had not seen or heard of anything like this before. Finally I Googled it, and found that someone in Mexico had reported this too. Such bees build nests out of flower petals. Apparently this was the first case reported in India. This also happens to be the first picture of such a phenomenon on the net - there are no such images on Google Images. I have posted that image for anyone who sees such a thing in future and does a Google search to find out what it is.
