How To Revive Tired Bees With Sugar Water: 2024 Guidance

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Found a bee on the ground that seems too tired to fly? Here’s all you need to know on how to revive tired bees, with the guidance updated for 2023.

Our poor bees are in decline. Threatened because of neonicotinoid pesticide usage, habitat loss, and pollution – our fuzzy friends need all the help they can get.

Whether that’s using organic gardening techniques, planting bee-friendly plants, or making a simple bee watering station, there’s lots to do to help bees.

But what should you do when you find bees in your home or garden that are tired or struggling, or look like they are dying?

The chances are the bee isn’t dying, it’s just tired. Most tired bees don’t actually need help – they just need a little rest. But if the bee does need help then the good news is that you can actually revive these bees quickly and easily using only sugar and water.

Learn Thirst-Aid For Bees

bee sugar solution

Knowing some very basic “thirst aid” for bees that are clearly in trouble can go a long way in helping the bees rebuild their depleted population sizes.

So let me first show you how to work out if your grounded bee actually does need assistance. And, once you’ve established that your bee is in trouble, learn how to revive these tired bees.

I’ll also show you some dos and don’ts for helping bees because our goal is to help, not harm the bees. We can inadvertently harm bees in our quest to help, so it’s very important to be informed.

You can use the quick links below to skip to the section you need, however, but I highly recommend reading every section so you don’t intentionally harm our fuzzy friends.

Firstly, Does The Bee Need Reviving?

First off, you need to decide whether the bee is actually in trouble or if it is just resting.

In 2019 researchers at the Queen Mary University of London found that bumblebee queens actually spend a large proportion of their time resting on the ground.

In fact, the researchers found that bees rest for around 30 minutes on average. Occasionally they can rest for up to 45 minutes. It, therefore, appears that rest is a big part of the bumblebee life cycle, particularly in early Spring.

This means that if you do find a bee on the ground for an extended period, then in most cases there is nothing wrong with the bee. It simply needs a little rest. I don’t know about you, but I can definitely relate to the bees!

Bumblebee queens normally rest in long grass and leaf litter. Here they can safely hide from predators in peace. However, due to our love of mowed lawns and tidy gardens, it does get harder for bees to find such sheltered hiding spots.

Leave It Be

If you find a tired bee in your garden, you can just leave it be. It should eventually fly off once it is fully rested.

If you find a bumblebee queen resting on the road, on the pavement, or in another busy area, then the best thing you can do is to move it so it doesn’t get squashed.

When it is safe to do so, gently move it into some grass or leaves, or onto a nearby bee-friendly flower. Failing that, a more sheltered location out of harm’s way would be sufficient.

If after 45 minutes, the bee is still on the ground then it may be genuinely exhausted. The best thing to do at this point is, if you can, to pop the bee onto a bee-friendly flower to give it time to build strength safely.

If you can’t find a flower, it is only at this point that you should intervene by offering an energy boost to the tired bee.

How To Revive A Tired Bee

how to revive a dead or dying bee

Thankfully it is pretty easy to revive tired and exhausted bees. A simple solution of sugar and water can work wonders in giving them the energy they need to fly away.

To create this energy drink to revive tired bees, the RSPB suggests mixing two tablespoons of white granulated sugar with one tablespoon of water. Then place the sugar/water mix on a plate or spoon. Do not add any more water otherwise, the bee could drown. 

Next place the bee on the plate or spoon, where it will have a little drink. Hopefully, this will help it to gather the energy it needs to fly back to its hive.

Once done drinking, the bee will either fly off or gather energy to fly away. If it doesn’t fly away immediately, pop the bee onto a bee-friendly flower, or in some grass, or leaves until it is ready to fly. If you can’t find any foliage, put it in a sheltered spot until it is ready.

The only other occasion when you should offer a bee this energy drink is if it has been caught in bad weather, and again, is struggling to fly.

Some Dos & Don’ts For Feeding Bees

tips for reviving tired bees

There are some dos and don’ts for reviving tired bees that you should always follow.

Never Offer Honey

Firstly, don’t be tempted to offer tired bees any honey. In most cases, honey isn’t suitable for bees. This is because a lot of honey is imported and may not always be right for native British bees.

Honey from other hives can also spread fatal diseases, such as Foulbrood, amongst bee populations. As such, always stick to sugar.

Only Offer White Granulated Sugar To Tired Bees

Secondly, only ever offer white granulated sugar when you need to revive a bee. Never offer any other type of sugar. That includes brown sugar and demerara sugar.

These types of sugars are too hard for the bee to digest and could cause harm. You should also never offer any artificial or diet sweeteners as these could also be harmful to bees.

If you don’t have any white granulated sugar, then the best and safest option is to offer nothing at all.

Don’t Leave Sugar Water In Your Garden

And thirdly, and very importantly, do not leave any sugar-water solution sitting out in your garden for bees to drink from at their leisure. 

Whilst you can make a bee drinking station for your garden, this should only be filled with plain water. Sugar water fills bees up and can prevent the bees from gathering precious pollen. This could therefore be detrimental to their health. It’s also bad for plants, as this would prevent bees from pollinating them.

Instead, use this sugar-water technique only in an emergency when a tired bee is clearly in need of reviving. Think of it as bee CPR! You wouldn’t use CPR on someone who was just having a nap – so don’t offer sugar water if a bee has just been resting for a short period of time.

Why Are Bees Important?

Bees are crucial to help maintain the health of our environment, and our food supply.

The Food And Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations says thatclose to 75% of the world’s crops producing fruits and seeds for human consumption depend, at least in part, on pollinators for sustained production, yield, and quality“. This means without bees, we would struggle to feed ourselves.

Being able to revive tired bees is one key aspect. Another bee-friendly step that you can take is to plant a bee-friendly garden. Or, if you don’t have a garden, here’s how you can help the bees in other ways.

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232 Comments

  1. Wow this really helped! The bee started drinking right away and after a few minutes, it started flying again.

  2. I have a bee and it’s legs seem to be stuck with something sticky. How can I safely clean it? It’s trtying so hard to clean itself, but keeps falling over. Thanks.

  3. Found a bumble bee looking lethargic at dusk on a windowsill at dusk. Put it on my finger brought it into the kitchen and made granulated sugar and water mix. It immediately started to drink the mix and within 10 minutes was flying to the window full of energy! Opened the window and off it flew. Result👍

  4. Just yesterday I was reading about feeding tired bees. Today my housemate told me there was a bee on the table outside and had been immobile for a long time. I checked and, though the bee was alive, it looked almost like it couldn’t move. So, I looked up feeding tired bees again and found your site. I mixed the sugar with the water, put a bit of it on a plastic plate whose edges I cut off and then placed the plate right near the bee (without touching it). Sure enough, that bee started drinking and drank for a good bit of time. Then it stopped. I watched, and finally he flew to a slightly higher level but not away. Then I saw it zoom away towards out lilacs. At that point, because of flies, I brought the plate inside and rinsed away the remainder. Still, it was a lovely feeling to see that bee revive and fly off! Thank you for the information.

  5. This does work ! I have got a lovely video of her licking the sugar solution, but I can’t seem to put it on with my comment

  6. I found a cold, wet bumblebee yesterday and brought it indoors. I made sugar water and don’t think it was at all interested. However, it did dry off and seem more lively, even some buzzing of wings. So, I tried this morning to bring it back outside and it seems to get listless again. It’s still a bit cold outdoors. I brought it back inside, added some garden flowers, along with plain water. It gets more active, buzzing, even a brief ‘lift off’ before going back to just walking around the shoebox. I’m wondering how long this might keep up and I’m hoping for a warmer sunny day to see if that helps. Thanks for any information or encouragement you can offer!

  7. I’ve revived quite a few bees with a sugar and water mixture. It always makes me feel good when a bee drinks some and not long after that flies away to live another day. However, one bee that I THOUGHT was worn out and needed to come home with me to be revived was only taking a break on the back of my car and proceeded to fly madly inside the car while I drove home. We were both glad to have him fly away energetically (without my help).

  8. Hi. For the last two days I’d seen a Bee huddling under one of my mothers left out garden gloves I didn’t know what to do so for the first day I just put something over The bee And went inside after Breathing my warm breath over the bee. The next day I saw this website and started doing the sugar water trickVthe bee wasn’t taking the water though. So I brought it inside and put it in a large shoebox it started to get feisty And try to escape and I don’t know what to do now it is still cold and is raining for the whole week and I just can’t bear to have to release this bee outside in the freezing cold if you know what to do please reply

    1. The advice from the RSPB is now that they “would not advise leaving out sugar and water in your garden as bees will go to this rather than a flower because it is easier and then flowers are not being pollinated”, from this article – https://inews.co.uk/news/environment/facebook-advice-attenborough-bees-fake/ – which is not at all what this article is suggesting. It is not a problem if you find a struggling bee in your garden to give it a little boost, as long as you don’t give it too much sugar, and don’t give it honey.

      1. Good to know, thanks! Yes, it doesn’t seem right just to leave it in the garden, but definitely helps a struggling bee which would not of survived without.

  9. BBC just reported that giving bees sugar water is fake news and can in fact cause disease and actually kill bees. I have checked the link to the RSPB and they also do not advise this practice. I have to admit that I’ve believed this for ages. Can you comment?

  10. Hey, I’m worried about my little friend! I gave her some sugar water as per the proportion on the site but, A) she’s not moving much just kinda dunked her face in it and is being pretty still. B) I think she may have gotten some on her wing which worries me because I heard something about sticking? 😔 anyway it was also pretty cold last night just above the frost point. Could that have any affect on her lack of movement. She is alive and will definitely move if disturbed

    1. She’s also kinda rude… popping her back end up and poking that little stinger at me anytime I’ve had to move the plate.

  11. I found a bee struggling on my bedroom floor. I have fed him with sugar water and it responded well to that. I have placed him on the window sill and he appears to be resting. He was initially breathing heavily but has calmed down a bit. He’s not moving much yet but I’m hoping this is only temporary. I hope the little guy makes it

  12. Saved a garden bee today from a spider and its web. The bee was way too big for the spider to eat anyway ;-). The bee is still busy disentangling the web stuff. Keeping it safe inside tonight in a tray with leaves and some flowers. I also gave it a mix of two teaspoons of sugar & one with water as advised here, and it liked it a lot! Seems like it’s ready to fly again soon. Advice to other people saving a bee from a spider: let it disentangle on its own in a safe place. It’ll take ages (a few hours) but it can do it.

  13. Ahhh! THIS IS SO BEAUTIFUL?! I garden and love nature. My grandmother is super peeved by bees, even though she gets mad if her flowers don’t bloom (I don’t get it, either). I’ve seen bees like this before, but I never realized they were just tired.

    I do wonder if organic/local honey is okay, however! We don’t buy/use imported honey, but rather we buy from a local beekeeper who doesn’t add anything, either.

  14. I was sitting outside and a bee dropped of the sky and bounced off my shoulder I placed it on the table in my yard and it was cleaning itself then it just dropped off the table I was concerned for the little fella or little female bee so I looked up and found thus site so I did what you guys suggested after a half an hour the bee is now sitting in the spoon with sugary water so fingers crossed it will get the fix it needs. Really chuffed with myself it the little bee flies off

  15. I did not realise bees couldn’t have honey. I found the bee on the ground barely moving. So because I had no sugar at home. I gave the bee abit of honey water placed the bee on one of our wild yellow roses. The bee was cleaned of within 10 minutes and away it flew.

  16. This is likely a daft question but I am wondering why, when the bees have been here for presumably tens of thousands of years, all of a sudden in 2018 they are suddenly so exhausted that they need us to provide them with energy drinks?

  17. As you read I have a very large tree bee having a sip of sugared water in my office, amazing how placid they are

    Just wanted to share my story, it’s raining heavily now so in not put him out just yet but when it dries up I’ll release him / her

  18. Loving your work. 🐝
    Is organic raw coconut sugar with warmish water ok?
    No cane sugar in the house.
    The Bee actually drank from my hand, he got better but not well enough to fly away, he wanted to stay on my hand.
    I’ve left him in my large peace Lilly pot (sitting on the soil bit) with the underfloor heating on (!) not so he’ll toast but just be cosy.
    (With a further teaspoon of sugary water nearby) .
    Claire

  19. Just trying this right now. Unfortunatly looks like it might be too late. She showing some intrest in the sugar water but when trying to move just falls over. I think her rear leg is injured its not moving at all.

  20. I found a bee in my garage I did got a glass with sugar and water I also got a spoon I lifted the bee out of the garage using the spoon. I started to feed to bee with the mixture. The bee drank it my kids were watching it and have taken some pics of it. My gosh I didn’t realise their tongue was so long

  21. Hi there,

    I found a bumblee crawling on the floor in my garden yesterday and carefully picked it up and place it on top of one of the tulips which it seems to feed on some pollen.

    After half an hour or so, the bee didn’t seem to move and it was getting dark soon so I brought it in and place it in one of the tulips that I have in a vase. After doing some googling, I tried feeding it some sugar water mixture but it didn’t seem interested so I left it resting in the floor.

    It didn’t move much at all and I was getting worried it might not last but I let it rest nonetheless.

    When I came down this morning, I found the bee on the floor and seems to look alive. After feeding it some sugar water mixture it seems ready to fly so I took it into the garden and ready to see it off. But the poor little thing tried flying off 4 times and dropped heavily back onto the ground each time.

    So I picked it up and put it back in one of the tulips in the garden again.

    After some close inspection, I think it might be a queen buff-tailed bumble bee (thanks to your identification chart). The wings seem perfectly fine, not torn or bent.

    Just wondering what I can do to help this little bee.

    We’re in London the weather is about ~14-16c today, not sure whether this affects it at all.

  22. I found a bee that was next to a tyre on the floor, it was moving and it held on to my finger, I’ve been trying to help it but it seems as though it’s not interested in the sugar drink, what should I do now?

  23. I opened the hatch to our attic this morning and a big bumblebee feel down onto the carpet. It was on its back, twitching. I guess it had been up there all winter. I decided to take it outside in a jar and put it near some flowers – thinking it was better that it die outside in the sunshine.
    No movement after 10 minutes so I Googled and found this blog. I filled a big wooden spoon with the sugar/water mix and placed it next to the bee. Within 30 seconds it was on the spoon and far more animated within a couple of minutes. After 5 minutes it flew away!!! I felt like a hero, hahah. Great blog!

  24. I’ve never touched a bee before, are they easy to hold and move without hurting them? I want to move it towards the solution but I’m unsure if I’ll damage it in the process.

    1. I placed a glass bowl over it and then slid a piece of cardboard under the bowl. Transported it outside quickly then removed the bowl and stood back! No harm to me and the bee wasn’t too agitated.

  25. I rescued a bee last summer it was rather chilly on a summer morning. I got a large pickling jar put flowers suited for bees with sugar water on flowers I went to work for 3 hours on my return I was so pleased the bee had flown

  26. Found a little fella just a few minutes ago on the footpath.. Remember about the sugar water.
    Brought the little chap home but nothing.
    Only thing is moving now his sting..
    Is it to late for this bumble bee. ☹️

  27. Hello all.
    Just came.across a little honey bee
    It was just moving so on the way back I picked it up and brought it home.I remembered something about sugar water.I soked a pice of kitchen paper in sugar and a bit of water..
    Unfortunately nothing has happed
    Im I to late.his bottom keeps moving is the bee still holding on..I have noticed little insects moving in his fur.

  28. Thanks to the advice above (a little sugar in water on a spoon) I rescued a VERY tired Bumblebee today. When I cam across him he was barely able to drag his limbs along – helped him out on to a garden table, where I noticed he was trying hard to eat from a husk of a leaf-cover fallen from a tree.

    Googled for advice – found this site – and in minutes had popped a spoon beside him. He soon swivelled around and positively pounced on the sweet drink – sucked from it from a solid couple of minutes, proboscis submerged, until sated. Then he spent a few minutes (I think) cleaning mouthparts, then lifted smoothly into the air and whizzed of with a powerful buzz – fully recharged !

    A real pleasure to help a fellow creature. Thanks for the advice.

  29. We found a bee on the floor in our house, not a bumblebee, smaller, paler yellow, it even had very fine feathery hairs right down its legs, I tried the sugar water and persevered for about two hours, it did drink at first but it didn’t seem to be improving, it couldn’t stand and even open its legs fully, I had to hold it up on its legs, in the end it would not drink, I could see its little body breathing, but after two hours I’m afraid it died…. Could it have had an internal parasite? Or an illness?

  30. Just found a bee under my Christmas tree. My Great Dane was being more curious than usual so I went to go check out what he was looking at. I did exactly what the page told me too and took the bee outside and a got one part water two parts sugar and it had a little and then a 10 min later flew away.

  31. Need advice on DOZENS of bees dying on my balcony, “trapped.”
    I have an open balcony with a foot high ledge of stone, on top of that is a 15 inch glass panel, and a metal railing on top of that, then open space for the next 10 feet up. (In other words, NOT an obstacle for any flying creature!) A few days ago I saw a very tired bee trying to climb the glass on one side, banging against it constantly. He didn’t seem to be able to just fly up and over, but continued to try to climb the glass, would fall when he got to the railing and start over. I helped him onto the railing and left some sugar water.
    The next day there were 5 bees doing exactly the same thing, and 20 dead bees on the balcony.
    I helped a few of them up to the railing where they flew away like normal, the others I left sugar water for. I leaned some cardboard against the glass to try to discourage them from getting stuck.
    Today there was yet another bee who had crawled behind the cardboard to bang against the same panel. I lifted him out and he flew away. I have now taped paper over the panel, no new stuck bees today at least.
    WHAT IS GOING ON HERE? I thought someone had sprayed a chemical and they were all disoriented and just happened to die on my balcony, but now I am wondering whether something about this glass is confusing them. Seriously, all they have to do is turn around and fly above the completely open balcony in any other direction, but instead they are dying in droves. What more can I do to remove this hazard and can anyone explain this behavior? We can’t afford to lose bees this way.

  32. Bees are not only extremely important for humans, but also for whole ecosystems role. We are totally depending on pollinating insects like bees & butterfly for food. When bees are disappeared human will not survive as longer time.

  33. I found a be
    e on the path outside – I put her in the sugar water & she crawled away after 15 minutes she appears to be struggling – it’s cold outside should I bring her in?

  34. Hi,I buy Cheshire honey as i wont buy foreign. It is from a local supplier. The bees i have helped with it is immense. I even have a video of a bee one year and a wasp another. I ran out of honey one time so used fruit sugar watered down to a syrup. They were not interested. But the honey goes down every time. It is a lot more expensive then the foreign rubbish but as long as it helps our bees,,its worth every penny.

  35. My giant African Marigolds are in full bloom and I have been getting quite a few bumblebees visiting!
    I noticed one this afternoon on one of the flowers looking like it was not doing too well and had been there for a while so I mixed some sugar and water in a shot glass and with a spoon placed a little of the mixture next to the bee and he started drinking and a few minutes later he flew off! I felt real good after but I notice my neighbor peeking out her window probably wondering what I was doing.

  36. I’ve used sugar water a few times in the past and felt delighted when the bee revives and happily buzzes off. Last week I tried with a big bumble bee but it wasn’t interested. When I looked closer I saw it had mites. A few were walking around but there also appeared to be eggs. Checked online and then tried to gently brush them off with a kid’s paintbrush but it didn’t really work. Also carefully dipped it in the birdbath, hoping the mites would drop off…. Poor bee was unable to fly with the horrible things on it. Just had to put it up in the bushes and hope remaining mites hatched and the bee could go on its way.

  37. I got a bee just smoked weed with him and put him in a luncheble package. I named him bro bee, he does not seem interested in flying and when i tired to take him outside initially when i found him he wasn’t interesting so I just left him on a plate before I went to mcdonalds to see if he moved. He did move! THANK GOD! and has been chilling with me since i got back we have been smoking some weed and listening to Led Zeppelin and David Bowie his name is Bro Bee. He keeps trying to pretend he’s but I’m like naaaaa bro I told him I will take him to the park tmrw to the flowers.

  38. After finding quite a big girl struggling to do much, i came back to my office, mixed up a sugar and water solution and headed back out. On my way to her, i came across another little lass who wasn’t doing too good. She lapped up the solution and took off after about 2 minutes. The other one… sadly, she’s not doing too well. she doesn’t want to drink the solution. I don’t think she can. Her head just drops into it when i put it under her head. That being said, i popped her into a bit of sunlight and after a few minutes, she briefly took off and then crashed quite spectacularly into the ground. I picked her up and put her back into a nice warm spot and left some solution on a leaf for her. I’ll be going to check on her soon so fingers crossed.
    Loving all the success stories on here! Keep up the good work people. SAVE THE BEES! :)

  39. Hi,
    I love ALL creatures and will do all in my power to help any living thing, especially bees as they are so vitally important to nature. I found a sluggish bee yesterday and as it started raining I brought it inside.
    This morning I put it outside on a leaf as the sun is shining, I found this website and was about to prepare the sugar and water remedy suggested. I went back outside ,but the bee had either flown away or fallen off the leaf,in any case I couldn’t find it anywhere. Thanks for the sugared water advice to revive any bees I might find in future.

  40. Is there an alternative to try if you have no sugar on you when you see a bee struggling? The only sugary thing I had on me at the station this morning was a bar of milk chocolate, so I left a very small piece next to the bee in case it could somehow digest some of it. Didn’t know what else to do…

  41. Hi this morning I woke up to a bee in my dressing gown. It was freshly washed meaning the bee was resting there when it was drying out side however it also means the bee was there all night. So I took him outside and gave Home some sugar and water but he didn’t get any better. I later moved him to some flowers but he hasn’t moved yet and this was a couple hours ago. I don’t no what to do and I cants stop thinking about him.

  42. I found a bee this morning on our driveway, I fed her some white sugar solution from a spoon and placed her on our nearby garden plants in the sun to recover. She drunk quite a lot of the solution before I left for work, here’s hoping I helped a little bit with nature.

  43. I never see bees that are not feeling well in our garden but always when I’m on a walk. Now if I carry them with me until I’m back home or at another house which can be 30 mins or more of a distance from the spot I found the bee, it might not be able to fly back to its original home. Can they adjust to another area (and perhaps find their way back home even if it takes a couple of hours) or should I than not help them and leave them to their death?

  44. I heard about this years ago. I’ve found a few dozy bees in my garden looking like they were going into a diabetic coma. I thought only sugar, not sugar & water helps. This week I found a dozy bee in a car park in Exeter and feared it would get squashed. I found a leaf; relocated it to safe place and gave it some sugar from a sachet in my handbag. Within a few minutes it was sufficiently revived to totter around with more energy.

  45. Hi Wendy
    Thanks for your site.
    Helpful.
    I’ve rescued knackered bees
    and this year I’ve also picked up an alarming number of dead bees from the floors
    where I live – I wondered if there were nests nearby. Re sugar solution – What’s wrong with muscovado sugar? I don’t normally keep white sugar. I thought muscovado was BETTER than white because it hasn’t had stuff extracted from ie more ‘natural’ – whole.

  46. On day two. Large bumble bee sitting, panting and persistently climbing to high places. This bee won’t quit but neither is it flying off. Offered surgery water, flower beds and prime position on a wall but nothing seams to help. What is this bee seeking? HELP!

  47. Hi there,and what a lovely end to the day.After finding a sleeping bee on my patio -I looked up this forum for advice on what to do.I made up the sugar solution -only I had no granulated,only caster.I was desperate to save the little fuzz ball’s life,so gave it a go regardless.I placed her right next to the syrup on a plate -she gulped away for a good 15 mins,then stumbled off towards the edge.Straight away I popped the plate on the grass,next to a lavender bush.A little dazed and disoriented,she dropped off the edge,onto the grass.I checked on her every 20 mins or so,for what had to be almost 4 hours,but she hadn’t gone far.She suddenly turned still,and looked to have stopped breathing.My husband said she may have gone to sleep,as it was dusk and turning cold.I still couldn’t help but check on her,10 minutes later .. when guess what,she’d gone,haha.There were still bees buzzing around the blossom on the privet hedge,I’d like to think she’d joined them -and wish them all lotsa love,and a safe journey home :) xx

  48. Hi Wendy, I found a very big bumble bee earlier this afternoon on the lawn and she seemed to be burrowing into the grass, I was worried my little Yorkie would stand on her so I lifted her up onto some flowers and left her there. A couple of hours later I found her on the grass doing the same thing again so I fed her some sugar water. She seemed to perk up a little but crawled into my tub of clothes pegs which were on the garden table next to me, she has now burrowed down into the pegs and has settled there. I placed the basket in the greenhouse next to the door and left the door open a few inches so she’ll keep warm but It’s now dusk and much colder so do you think I should just bring the basket indoors to keep her safe and warm or just leave her where she is and check on her first thing in the morning? Thanks x

  49. There was bee in our office. One of lads said it had been there since yesterday although I wasn’t aware of it. I put in cup with paper at bottom & took it outside but it was very sluggish. I gave it some white sugar but I didn’t have water so I just spat on it. The bee mosied over and started slurping away so I left it for 5 mins and when I went back it had gone. I appreciate water would be better but was the spit OK or could it harm the bee?

  50. Hi don’t know if anyone can help, found a bee lying on the path very still but moved its back legs so I’ve brought it home and have tried giving it some sugar mixed in water but it doesn’t seem to be helping and now the bee seems to be shaking slightly. It’s not even attempting to drink. Is there anything else i can try? Thanks

  51. Hi there, I found a giant bumble bee queen with this smaller bee right beside it, both really tired on the pavement. Moved them onto the giant rosebush where there were loads of bees and the little one was lively. I came back a few mins later with sugar water (I live 50 metres away) and the little bee had gone but the big bee looked really slow so I brought her into my flat. She started moving her bee-hind up and down in this funny motion like she was cranking herself up! and I tried giving her a drop of sugar water on the leaf again but am worried I stressed her out. She suddenly started buzzing and flew to the window so I let her out. Did the warmth make her suddenly perk up like that? Is it bad that I separated her from the other bee that was with her (was it a mate or worker?). She just seemed super listless before- I hope I didn’t make her use up her last reserves of energy to ‘get away from me’ if you know what I mean!. A lady passing by in the street said she thought it was because it was cold. It was a beautiful queen with no mites. Maybe she’s young? My cat watched the whole thing with huge interest but didn’t want to eat the bee. I think he identified.

  52. Just rescued a honey bee from my back garden, it looked nearly dead. I gave it the sugar and water and it drank, then I carefully put it on a sunny spot on the garden wall to warm back up and about 20 minutes later it flew off. I feel like I’ve done something good for the day now 😀

  53. Just found a bee on my back deck this morning. At first I thought the little guy was dead, went to grab a paper towel to move the carcass and surprisingly he climbed on! I moved him into the sun on the paper towel and went and filled a medicine cap with cold tap water. Went back outside and he was stilled hanging on the paper towel, but not moving and doing a weird abdominal thrusting motion. Poured a little bit of the water into the paper towel so it spread through the towel underneath him. Within 3 minutes he lifted off, buzzed around me a few times and flew off! Great way to start my Sunday morning, figured I should share my experience. Bees are important and should be cared for!

  54. Reviving one right now! It seems to be drinking the solution. I’ll keep my eye on him. Fair play to Wendy! You have saved so many bees by creating this post! :)

  55. Hi! Thanks for posting about this its so helpful, do you have any tips for helping bees on the street? I see bees on the pavement all the time on my way to work, I’ve read about the sugar/water solution and I was thinking of keeping a little bottle and maybe a dropper in my bag so I could leave a drop of sugar by the bees as unfortunately I cant stop on my way to work and take them home to care for them, would this be any good to them? Or is fruit an option? Like leave small piece of apple next to them? I dont know that might be silly but other than stocking up on tiny paper cups for bees I’m out of ideas haha, I’d love to hear any advice anyone has! Thanks Xx

  56. Thank you soo much for the tip, I always feel pleased for the tired bees but now I could actually help in saving their lives…

  57. Thanks for the tip. Found a tired bee hiding on the window sill today and the sugar and water diet did the trick! You’ve just helped save a bee :-)

  58. I regularly revive tired bees. Aswell as giving them honey water/sugar water, sometimes you have to warm them up as their body temperature drops. I have sat them in a sunny position and also on a cold day have sat them in my hand And gently breathed on them. You will notice their abdomen start to pump as their temperature increases and then when they are ready they start to run around and get quite angry then fly off.

    Don’t put the food on your hand to feed them as they are very sensitive to chemicals. So if you have just washed your hands you can kill them as they absorb the chemicals from the soap, shower gel etc

    Sometimes it doesn’t work however i will always try to help my little fury friends. Sometimes they are not just tired but their wings are broken and even though they have the energy they just can’t fly.

  59. So i found a hunny bee crawling along the floor, at first it looked like some sort of bug so i dropped a small book on it but i realised it was a bee. I felt really bad and it is barly moving, it doesnt seem to have any visable wounds so ive given it sugar water by dabbing a tissue in the sugar water, i hope this revives her as im very guilty. Also i have put biscuit crums with the bee to see if it eats it lul

  60. Thank you for your advice. I found a bumble bee trapped in our car. I mixed some sugar with a bit of water put some on a spoon, and fed it to the bee. I witnessed a long black pointed thing fold out and then what looked like an orange tongue going in and out of the sugary water. It did this for about ten minutes and it sat for about ten more and then flew off. We filmed a bit of it and it was the coolest thing I have seen in a while!! Thank you!!

  61. Great result it works, I had a very tired bee in our conservatory, it stay over night however in the morning I went to put the Bee outside but it couldn’t fly. So I came across this website and followed your advise, after about 15 minutes it was cleaning itself and then flew off. I’m so happy I’ve done my bit and saved a Bee life :-)

  62. Hi. I found a bee that my cat had been toying with. It doesn’t seem to be able to fly, but has no visible injuries. I’ve tried sugar water & left it in a bed of cotton wool.
    It doesn’t seem to want to be there & is more than happy to rest on my arm. What is the best thing I can for it?

  63. I’ve done as recommended and the bumble bee greedily drank it in. I’ve been checking on her over the last hour and she is still in my garden. She seems to have had her fill of sugar and water, but now she seems to be burrowing in the grass, like she is trying to dig herself a bed for the night. Hopefully this is normal behaviour and she will fly away soon. I thought maybe she is intending on sleeping in the garden for the night and then flying away after her rest. It would be great to know if anyone can explain what she is doing though as I’m worried she still needs more help.

  64. This absolutely works! I had seen something on this before and yesterday I tried to get a bee who was trapped in my sky light to fly out but fell straight into the sink, there he sat looking like he was dying, my friend ready to give him his burial but I remembered I heard about this got the sugar and put a little in front of him (it was wet due to him sitting in the sink) only minutes later the bee rubbed the sugar on his legs and took off and went straight out the window! Great trick, always try and save outs bees!

  65. Hi, it’s Chloe here borrowing Maya’s computer. You know you can get a butterfly net and chrysalis’ – well me and my BFF were in the garden catching Bumble Bees and checking them for any injuries such as bird bites and letting them go if they were well. It was heart braking when having to say goodbye as we had grown attached to them, giving them names and everything. The two most unwell ones were called Hector and Honey( ha ha get it ! )

  66. I found a bee in the garden on it`s back i put him up the right way and he did not move i picked him up and i placed him in a nice spot in my house my dad is a bee expert and even he fort the bee was going to die but i folded your advice and in less than in half an hours he was back to normal

  67. I found a bee struggling to fly away, I gave him honey mixed with water as I was not sure what to do with him! I had to leave him with the honey/water but just read your article of only giving him sugar and water…is there anything I can do for him when I go back and check up on him?

  68. My son found a very tired bee on our living room carpet yesterday afternoon. My husband put it out in the rain!!!! When I got home some hours later I found the bee on our back door step so brought her in and fed her honey (sorry won’t do that again since reading your advice) which she lapped up for some time. Noticed there were some tiny `mite’ like creatures crawling on her so found a pin to nudge them off – think got them all. As the rain was relentless made her a `home’ in our kitchen with water, small amount of honey and some leafy bedding. She looks much better this morning and hope to release her today once rain stops! What would the mites have been? Wendy, Northern Ireland

  69. I did this a few weeks ago – it looked like there was a queen bee dying in our garden. I’d never kill a bee but I am scared of being up close next to them. But mixed 1tbs water with 1tsp water and took it outside and put it right next to her. Then legged it inside and watched from the window. It was amazing. She slowly ambled over to it and was there for a good 15 minutes. I sat down with a cup of tea and by the time I took my cup back out into the kitchen she was gone! So thank you for the tip, I’m so glad I did it and it worked.

  70. I’m currently nursing a very large bumblebee. She has been attached to my screen porch for maybe 3-4 days and I thought she was big beetle. Yesterday, alarmed to still see it there, I got closer and saw she was a bee! I scooped her up and put her on a plate with a very diluted sugar water mix. She drank some, stretched and I left for two hours. When I returned, she was still there and appeared to be resting. I lifted her with a stick and put her on a bed of grass. She clutched the stick tightly and tucked in for several hours. I got online and read further about bringing them in once dark. She she’s currently on my nightstand. It’s morning now, but raining and cold. Should I give her more sugar water, a proper mixture, if she can’t leave just yet?

    1. I’m keeping her in. She’s got movement but only a little. I’ve dipped a few of the flowers from my yard in the sugar water mixture as I don’t want her to fall over into the spoon or cap as she isn’t very steady. She has lifted her front leg and dipped it into one of the flower buds several times. I wondering if she can absorb thru her lil foot? Otherwise she is remaining still. I have seen her stretch her rear end once. I’m singing her songs, praying Gaia brings her more life and telling her how perfect, sacred, and important she is. Prayers for my big little bee I’ve named “Beefrin”

  71. Thank you for this article, my daughter and I saved a bee this morning, wow, what an amazing feeling. My 6 year old is so proud to have saved a little creature. When it flew away we were beside ourselves! Good deed for the day-big tick!

  72. I am not sure whether this is the place to comment on your blog of 23rd December, but never mind. I am much older than you and really enjoy all that you write, although today’s blog felt particularly personal. I am so pleased that life with your little ones is settling down a bit. Your comments on the news reflect my own views almost exactly. In my opinion, all we can do as individuals is be kind to everyone we meet, be very good to our family and friends and do even tiny things which make life better for someone else. Every time something comes up to do more than that, I think we should do it, if we can. Well done with everything you do. I love reading your blogs. Have a lovely Christmas and let’s hope that we all have a happier New year.

  73. I found a dying bee in the night rain.i took her in my aparment and gave her honey l didnt know what to do.she drink it and star (buzzing)but i couldn’t let her out in the dark and the rain.i didn’t know that i supposed to give her sugar.im waiting for the sun to come out and set her free.i want her to live and im never giving again honey to a bee.i just wanted to save her.sorry for my bad english.wishes to all from Greece?

  74. I found a huge bumble bee this morning on the pavement near a park in central London. brought it with me to the office and put some warm water in a plastic container with a lid, some kitchen roll on top and put the bee on that to warm up. I also gave it sugar water (but only had brown sugar from Pret a Manger). After about an hour and a half, it became very active and started buzzing furiously. I put it in another box and rushed it back to the park where I had found it. It soared off up into the air, which was great. However, it is a November day, temp 9 celcius, so fear it will get cold again soon.

  75. They look dead & are dying from glyphosate! Tt would only make sense that whatever is fed, it must be organic, or you will kill them with glyphosate!

  76. I just found one on the patio. I put her on one of my garden flowers in the shade. She flew off after about a minute :) (it was the biggest bee I’ve ever seen! No wonder she was tired lol)

  77. We are in Italy living in a stone house and have a hive in the wall, we regularly have tired bees crawling around on the floor near their hive, but we also have gekos that wait for them and eat them when they can, I’m of the opinion that’s the way of nature and leave them all to it, in addition if the bees die and the geko hasn’t eaten them, there are huge numbers of ants that like yo drag the bodies away and into their own nest !

  78. I have never heard of such a thing. This morning I was perplexed. 2 bees were on identical flowering plants. Not buzzing but looking dead, both of them. I thought it were the plants I just planted, maybe the company used pesticide on them. I noticed there was a little bit of life in them so I placed them on a plant identification tag and watched them. The worst one popped up first and flew away. I was elated. The other on,e I thought, didn’t have a chance. All of a sudden he was gone!! I just found your site and now I will know what to do. I had no idea about them being exhausted. I’m so glad I didn’t think to bury them. Thank you for your expertise, I will help the next little bumble who comes my way.

  79. I have just fed a bee some sugar water which got drunk quickly (do this on a regular basis) I noticed this time though that the bee started to bring it back up again. Never seen this before so when he finished bringing it up a put him on some flowers that the other bees seem to like. He looks ok and now is having a rest, but I’m still worried about him

  80. I’m so pleased I found this page. I only have a hanging basket and two days ago I saw a bee on it not moving. I kept an eye on it and it was in the same place next day, legs moving feebly. I googled bees and came to this site. We don’t use sugar so I popped to the shop, bought a bag and made some syrup which I put on a plastic box top and gently eased the bee on. It crawled straight to the syrup and I saw it feed for a few minutes, next thing it started cleaning it’s legs and suddenly took off! Amazing! I felt so happy.
    I’ll be spreading this info around so thanks so much for sharing your knowledge xx

  81. I found a motionless bee on our patio yesterday so I made up the sugared water syrup and placed some on a spoon, which the bee sipped. The bee started moving around and managed to crawl onto my hydrangeas, where she still remains today 24 hours later. The bee is still moving and will not take anymore syrup. Why is the bee bot flying away is there something wrong?

  82. thanks for your tip, I recuse a bee which only crawling around a front leg tweeted, I though I can at least shelter it to died from eaten by a predictor, I though its wings must be damage and can not fly, so I keep it with some cut flower in a pot. Then I google see to see your site talking about sugar food mixed to feed bee, I give it a try. To my big surprise, it take a minute of drinking your sugar mixture, it suddenly buzzing and fly to the garden, it is really great ! thanks !!!

  83. Im thrilled to have read almost every article here. I’m totally upset with myself because I’ve had bees in my yard on the cement that I thought were dying, some I put on flowers and some I didnt?. Now I know I can give them a chance for survival…. My lavender plants are loaded with bees and I know somebody is going to get a reward with some lavender honey!!! Thanks for all the lifesaving tips!!!

  84. Gave some sugar and water styled syrup to a tired looking bee today, we have a dog so we placed a glass over the bee while it drank the syrup so the dog couldn’t get to it in minutes the bee was flying around in the glass so we lifted it off and away flew one happy little bee

  85. I have a bee atm who isnt moving we have give him sugar water but still no signs of movement he is just sat still i dont know what else to do.

  86. Both yesterday and today whilst having lunch I saw an exhausted bee walking across ou patio. I have given it some water. (Being diabetic, there is no sugar in the house) and put it near our tomato plants which have some flowers in bloom. Lacking sugar, is there anything else that I can do? It is very hot, so it could be lacking water. It was carrying a lot of pollen, but was not making its waty to the hive that they have built underneath our shed. Indeed it was going in the wrong direction.

  87. Hope you can help.

    I saw a bee in a vase of water at home and assumed it was dead. My partner came back off holiday and noticed it saying she saw it move.

    We are now trying to resuscitate it. I don’t honestly know how long it was in the water.

    I took it out about 4 days ago and out it on some kitchen towel. I’ve also tried a hair dryer on cool at a distance to try and dry it more.

    Yesterday, I figured (wrongly) a bit of honey to feed it and only today have I searched for proper advice.

    It crawled through the honey yesterday so against my gut feeling. I put it in a bowl and gently tried to rinse it off and it is now on some kitchen towel.

    It occasionally flaps its wings as it has been doing for days. I really don’t want to put it out of its misery but I fear it is suffering and will never recover.

    Please advise.

    1. Four days sounds like a long time to try and resuscitate it. Some people here have had success with moving the bee to a warm place so may try that for a few hours and if that doesn’t work then I think maybe I’m afraid is that the bee is beyond saving :(

  88. Yes!
    I fed a bee Manuka honey thinking this would help it out. Sadly it’s only got one wing as it was fighting with a huge beetle when I found it, but after 5 days he/she is still alive. Gave it some sugar&swayed solution as mentioned in here 3 days ago, it managed to get back out the house quickly on foot and disssapeared. Today I found it lying motionless in a puddle. So I gave it a prod and lone behold it’s still alive! So after 3 attempts to help (and 3 actual HIGH FIIVES!!!! Off a bee) I’ve not fed it again and put it on some long grass next to some flowers. Hopefully he/she manages to get some health back. It won’t ever fly again though sadly! :( BUT I GOT 3 HIGH FIVES OFF A FRIGGIN BEE! Life is complete haha

  89. I have saved the life of 4 bees this year and could have been many more had i realised they were not dead and mowed them up. But im out every evening now looking to help with my knowledge of reviving them. I have even told my sceptical friends who said they will give it a try to help should the opportunity arrise.

  90. I found a tired bee in my garden this afternoon. Found your website and the bee is now happily taking the sugared water. Hopefully it will recover shortly to fly home. Thank you for this tip as I feel I’ve saved a bee today ?

  91. I nearly stepped on a bee today as I was walking back from the supermarket. It was just sitting in the middle of the pavement not moving at all. I encouraged it to crawl on to my newspaper and put it in a nearby bush away from other commuters that would have certainly stepped on it eventually (I live in central London) and put a drop of the only thing I had to hand – a capful of coconut water – by it so it could choose to drink it if it so wished. Is coconut water OK? I hope I did the right thing….

  92. Hello……have just given my English bee an English honey solution which it has lapped up, but it doesn’t seem to be able to put its tongue back! I think it’s bomb us hortorum. Any ideas why?

    1. The garden bumblebee or small garden bumblebee, Bombus hortorum, is a species of bumblebee found in most of Europe north to 70°N, as well as parts of Asia and New Zealand. Wikipedia

  93. I tried this after finding what i thought was a dead bee on the bathroom floor, put in a sugar solution and its not moving at all anymore. I think i drowned it…feel bloody awful. Anything.else i can do?

    1. Mouth to mouth?

      I just put the sugar solution next to it, but maybe your dead bee on the bathroom floor, was indeed a bead bee already

  94. Discovered a Bee on one of my pea plants in the greenhouse this afternoon, not moving at all, latched onto a leaf, didn’t know about only using sugar water until I found this site, but knew they needed sweet stuff, so put a drop of golden syrup on a leaf next to him, luckily he wasn’t interested

    Anyway, I just found this site, made up some sugar water, got him off the leaf and onto a plate near the water, he still hadn’t moved, so used some plastic with a bit of the water on the end to temp him, and his little sucker came out and started supping it up

    Took a few minutes, but he started livening up and looking around for some more, so I put him right next to the water on the plate, and he started having a right old feast, his little butt began wiggling 10 to the dozen, so I put the plate outside of the greenhouse, after he’d had his fill he climbed back up on top of the section of pea plant I cut off to get him, and took off into the night sky, looked like he was getting his bearings for a couple of seconds, then away hopefully to his hive

    Got a couple photos of the little fellow – more rewarding than you’d think, saving a little bee!

    When I found him
    http://i.imgur.com/i0WNkiE.jpg

    Taking a drink and just before take-off
    http://i.imgur.com/9oACSzE.jpg

    http://i.imgur.com/45lakrE.jpg

    1. And he was back in the greenhouse again when I opened it up today, latched onto the same pea plant, gave him more sugar water, and off he went again

      I have a feeling he knows where the nectar is now

  95. I found a bumblebee today on its back on my kitchen windowsill moving its legs ever so slightly. Popped a spoo. with some sugar water beaide it and it seems to of had a little drink. Unfortunatly my sister has a fear off bees so I couldnt keep the little thing inside for long. Popped it outside in the sunshine on some flowers. Hope the little mite pulls through. I feel terrible for popping it outside :(

  96. A bee was found in our garage, dragged itself to the doorway which we opened in the morning, I didn’t have sugar, so tried to dilute artificial sweeteners in desperation, did like it and crawled away from it, I then picked some flowers and it managed to crawl all over these, collecting whatever, but still kept rolling over, but put more and it kept trying, i got a single breakfast cheerio as they are sugar coated and tried this it had a go at that also, i then diluted some natural clear honey with luke warm water and put a spoonful on foil, went out five minutes later to check on it, and yippee NO SIGN of the beed, must have flew off, wished Id of seen it fly, but nevertheless, its alive – I’ve left the stuff there just incase it comes back YIPPEE

  97. Yes many times I have seen tired bees and have given them a solution of sugar and water to revive them. I always leave them in situ or put them somewhere cool and then leave a piece of kitchen roll soaked in sugar and water next to them. It is lovely when you see them drink and then pick up and fly off. I have taught my grown up girls to do this and we have all saved bees.. They are so important x

  98. It’s all very well if you are at home, but if you are away from home when you see a tired bee where are you suddenly going to get sugar and water from? I would happily buy a tube of sugar water to carry around with me if these were available. I’m currently trying to think of ways to do this. Has anyone got any ideas?

      1. Hi I’ve got a bee clinging on to a flower in the garden what should I do with her its getting dark know x

    1. I’ve come across this situation twice now. Both times I picked nearby flowers and placed them near the bee. They both fed from the flowers and then flew off! It was amazing. NB. both bees were grounded, but still walking around a bit. It might not work if they are completely static, as they do need to be able to move a bit to reach the nectar.

    2. I have just had this dilemma, went into a pub nearby got a coffee for myself (needed it anyway) and asked for some white sugar (i gather demera is bad for bees) and some tap water and took it out to her, hopefully no one thought i was trying to steal the pint glass!

      Might start carrying a water bottle (sensible over the summer for my own dehydration as well as bee’s!) and carry little sugar sachets.

  99. I had heard about this method and thought I’d put it to use when I saw a dying/tired bee yesterday. However, I did improvise somewhat. I was on a walk only armed with a packed lunch and a packet of strong mints. I had to crush a mint and add it to a small puddle of water that I had made from my drink bottle. The bee lapped it up and flew away within a minute!

  100. I came across a very poorly looking bee in our extension today,it looked like it was dying,so made up a small amount of very diluted squeezey honey with water.It immediately walked towards it and started to drink it,I watched it as it started to move more then it flew off. I was overjoyed,just could not believe it,felt like I had saved its life,then read this article about honey,hopefully in this instance it worked.

  101. Well success today! Found a very tired bee which had been trapped in a warm room and mixed the sugar solution and put the bee next to it. The sun dried the mix quite quickly and I was surprised to see that after a good drink and a rest, the bee balled up the sugar like nectar and carried some off with her when she left! I’m so happy I found this site as do love bees.

  102. yay! Came across a bee fidgeting around on his. I watched for several minutes, looked like she couldn’t get upright, so I flipped her. She took a few steps and then flipped back over. After finding this site, I gave her some sugar water, she seemed to drink up. It’s kind of hard to tell, but her body heaved as her mouth was in puddle. After 30 minutes for so, she was back on her back. I held a pine needle above her, she grabbed on. I lifted into the air and she flew away.

  103. I found a bee on its back in the garden this morning, following your advice I brought her in, put her in a warm spot in my office with some sugar water and although she made some efforts to move her legs she has not drunk and has not moved at all in 2 hours. She’s curled up now and I think her initial trauma of not being able to get up was too much for her. So sad but at least I did everything I could. She’s still in my office, on a bed of rosemary cuttings as I don’t want her to be eaten by insects!! Silly I know but still clinging onto the hope that she’s just tired and will come round (I know she won’t) :-( At least I now have more knowledge on how to help other bees.

  104. i just started my first hive, I looked at the queen after day 5 in the hive, she was in the cage with her workers. apon inspection on day 5, all 6 bees were totally dead. with totally a broken heart i was almost in tears, i spent $300can for nothing. After i had supper, my daughter said she thought she saw a leg move. I went over and saw no sign of life. AGAIN just before bed, she said she saw a wing flicker. this time I grabbed a Q-TIP but 3:1 sugar on the tip, a very small drop landed just in the right spot in front of the queen. My daughter picked up our strongest magnifying glass, to my amazement i could see her little jaws moving, nothing else. it took 10 min, but she was moving all body parts, but nothing else. but half hour later, would never know she was so close to dead. the other 5 bees never came around.

  105. Hi Wendy, it is very odd but for about every day of the week now, I find at least three, or four bees in the curtains of my bedroom. They are really slow and look as if they are dying. They are very dark in colour, but are definitely bees. It always occurs late in the evening. I have no clue where they come from and how they get into my bedroom, as the windows are closed. I tried to locate a hive, but nothing. I usually gently put them outside on the window sill. I tried the sugar-water solution, but usually they are dead the next morning.
    It is very strange and I can’t get my head around it. It hurts me to see those dying bees. What’s wrong with them?

  106. I read this a few weeks ago and was lucky enough to test it out! We found a bee looking absolutely spent on the pavement on the way down to my mom and dad’s house – so I picked her up carefully and took her with me. I told mom about this and she seemed rather sceptical – however, on mixing the white sugar and water in a saucer, and placing the bee on there, she took a sip and seemed to perk up. After five minutes or so she buzzed off into the sky – what a satisfying sight! Mom couldn’t believe it and now has sugar syrup at the ready! They have a large garden full of flowers so it is a real haven for bees – and she is now determined not to let one die of exhaustion on her watch! Roll on summer!

  107. Just as a follow up. Continued to try to give sugar water food to down bee. It seemed to have something very wrong happening. It would keep falling over and didn’t want food. It curled up and passed away as we held it. It was sad. You can’t help but feel for the little ones. I know some don’t live very long, but at least we have your information to give it a chance. The hive around here has the nicest, gentlest, and cutest bees. They have a wonderful pattern on their heads. At least we were able to try something.
    Thank you for your forum and having information made available.

  108. Good Morning,
    We found a small honey bee grounded last night. Temperatures were dipping into the low 40’s.
    Got it into a small box with newspaper, out of the wind with the flaps opening if it wanted to get out. It was barely moving, but when it did, it kept falling over and struggling to right itself. It might be experiencing pain. It made it through the night.
    This morning, temps are coming up. Got into the sun with the sugar water mixture. It appears that this little beautiful bee is missing a large leg on its right side. It looked like it was going for the sugar water , perhaps drank some, but then fell into it. We got it out, The wings work, but it seems to want to go somewhere, while it is tumbling and falling over and stopping as it does so. It seems exhausted. I am sadly thinking that this little one is dying. I don’t want to hurt it or make it worse for it if it is dying. Keep trying or leave it alone and put it in the grass to rest peacefully?
    ,

  109. I Googled this site last night after finding what I thought was a near dead bumblebee on my patio. I gently manoeuvred it on to a plastic lid with a blob of sugar/water solution but it didn’t seem interested, but then I figured it was too cold as the temperature had fallen really low. So I bought it indoors and placed the lid on a table by a radiator. After a while it started to move a bit and I saw its tongue reach out to the solution. It started to groom itself and not wanting to release it into the cold I transferred it to a small plastic pot with a tissue in the bottom and a clear lid that i poked holes in. This morning it looked happy enough so I took the lid off, placed the pot on its side back out on the patio and within seconds it crawled out…. stretched it’s wings…. started to buzz then took off in a spiral and flew away! I was thrilled!!! Made my day :)

  110. A bee fell out of the sky at my feet yesterday and was having trouble taking off again. I remembered hearing about this tip last year, and was excited to try it out. I was delighted when the bee flew off happily a few minutes later :)

  111. Update:
    Put the bee out in the sunshine (1st day of sun in 3 days). More fresh flowers and sugar water (still not interested). 90 minutes later, after he gave himself a full bath and perhaps got some energy from the sun (?), he flew way!
    It took 4 nights and 3 days. Didn’t think the moment was going to come. Didn’t give up tho! Yippee!

  112. Hi!
    Hope you can help me!
    Three nights ago, around 10PM, I found a bee floating in our birdbath. I scooped it out and much to my surprise it was alive.
    I went online for advice, which lead me to make a container for it, and put a very shallow bit of sugar water in the enclosure too. In the morning I was very pleased that she was still alive. I took the enclosure outside, opened the lid, and hoped she would fly away. When I came back in the early evening, she was still there and alive. So, I made more sugar water, which she won’t have anything to do with. Gathered flowers from the yard and placed them near her. She climbs around the flowers. Not completely sure if she is getting pollen from them or not, as it had just rained. Maybe the pollen was washed off?
    Anyhow, in have done this same routine now for 4 nights. She must not have the ability to fly. Injured wings? I can see the wings and they “look” fine.
    Don’t know what to do anymore. Any advice would bee appreciated
    Thank you!

  113. Hi!
    Hope you can help me!
    Three nights ago, around 10PM, I found a bee floating in our birdbath. I scooped it out and much to my surprise it was alive.
    I went online for advice, which lead me to make a container for it, and put a very shallow bit of sugar water in the enclosure too. In the morning I was very pleased that she was still alive. I took the enclosure outside, opened the lid, and hoped she would fly away. When I came back in the early evening, she was still there and alive. So, I made more sugar water, which she won’t have anything to do with. Gathered flowers from the yard and placed them near her. She climbs around the flowers. Not completely sure if she is getting pollen from them or not, as it had just rained. Maybe the pollen was washed off?
    Anyhow, in have done this same routine now for 4 nights. She must not have the ability to fly. Injured wings? I can see the wings and they “look” fine.
    Don’t know what to do anymore. Any advice would bee appreciated
    Thank you!

  114. We found a huge bumble bee that wasn’t able to fly, we gave it sugar water but she fell in the dish by accident, is there anything we can do to help her or should we just leave her inside with the sugar water for a bit?

    1. Best to help her out if you can. It’s best to use a very shallow dish in the future if you can – like the lid from a jam jar, rather than something deep.

      1. Hi wendy! I recently discoved a puffed out honey bee in my garden and tried to give it some sugar water. I just left a few droplets spcaed out on a large plate. It went to the plate but seemed to get stuck in the droplet. I help it out and out it on a flower. But i think it got sticky ( it seemed like the wings were stuck together) can this happen??

  115. Update: went downstairs this morning to find the bee had moved from where she was left last night. As no windows were open i assumed she’d crawled under somewhere and perhaps died. Except this afternoon we heard a buzzing at the window and there she was, very lively and bright wanting to go out. After after opening the window she started to fly after before coming back for a second (i like to think to say thank you) and then buzzing back out into the garden. Beyond happy. Thank you so much for the advice on this site, saved the life of a lovely little bee!

  116. I found a bee in the conservatory today, looking very poorly and lifeless. After offering her some sugar water she seemed to perk up, walking around and cleaning herself, but is now barely moving except for a twitchy foot. I’ve brought her indoors for the night to keep her warm but am concerned that she isn’t touching her sugary dinner. Maybe she needa more time in the warm? I hope she starts to feel better soon.

  117. Hiya,
    So after siting in a car park for two hours and having given Mr Bubble some sugar water, which seemed to revive him a little, we couldn’t leave him, so we brought him home and his currently sitting in a tub next to me, with some organic sugar water, flowers, twigs and leaves, but his still not flown anywhere and its been about four hrs now :-(
    Coming Mr Bumble, can we send him some love please :-)

  118. I found a bee this morning lying motionless on my balcony. I found your website and gave it some sugary water. It had a little drink and after a while seemed a bit better. After crawling around for a bit, it seemed like it wanted to fly off but didn’t have the energy to lift itself off the ground. I brought it in to keep it warm and left it some more sugary water to drink, however it has ignored the drink and instead curled itself up in a tube of tissue (as if it is borrowing). I am now unsure of what to do and how to help it!! Please help!!

    1. Hi Chloe, how is the bee today? I found a motionless bumblebee yesterday morning too. After keeping an eye on her all day (she didn’t move or want to drink. I brought her indoors where she seemed to perk up a little. She had a drink and walked around but didn’t make any attempts to fly. I kept her indoors overnight and tried putting her outside again today but she went from slowly moving about to not moving at all, so I’ve brought her back in again. Maybe just keep your visitor indoors for a few days, offer her sugar water and see how she goes. Hopefully nature won’t be cruel and she’ll be ready to spread her wings soon :-)

  119. I found that bringing in a bee into warmer temperature was the answer. I found a large bedraggled bumble bee four days ago in our drive. It wasn’t moving at all and at first I feared it was dead. I put some water and sugar in a small bottle cap and gradually it moved a little and drank but still made no attempt to fly off and seemed pretty poorly. Using two large leaves, I carefully lifted it into a nearby large flowerpot of plants and when I later returned I could see no sign of it so was relieved to think it had flown off. This morning (four days later) to my dismay, I found the bee, in the same spot, looking in the same sorry state and completely immobile. I again fed it but it seemed even weaker. It’s even colder this morning so I decided to bring it indoors. After about ten minutes of slow crawling around, seeming revived by the warmth, it seemed to become a bit more lively so I opened the window and lifted it up (fortunately it was on a small rug) towards the open window and it gave a little appreciative (I like to think) buzz and buzzed off!

  120. This bee I found right now is quivering and shaking it looks like it’s going to die! :( I put a drop of sugar water on a lid but it’s not helping! Idk what to do!? PLEASE HELP!

  121. I found an exhausted bumblebee on our driveway last night, and so I took her to the garden flowers. Unfortunately, this did not seem to revive her. This morning she was just lying on the lawn under the roses where I put her.

    I found your website this morning, and made her some sugar water. She did not want to stay on the plastic lid I brought it in (she kept on jerking and twitching until she was back on the grass), so I dipped a leaf in the sugar mixture and placed it in front of her. The sugar and water solution worked brilliantly – within ten minutes she was moving properly again, and ten minutes later she flew off! Saving another life is just the best feeling ever :D

  122. I found a very wet and tired Bee this morning in the garden, so gave him watered down honey, which he got stuck in to!

    Hopefully he’ll be re-energised now

  123. Hi, found two bees outside the house today. Both have been given the Bee energy drink of sugar and water and are currently resting in our bee hotel (hospital now) in the garden

  124. Thanks so much for your advice. Tried this today with a poor weak bee I found in the house and after 45 minutes of adding the solution to kitchen roll that the bee was sitting and drinking from, it just flew away. I’m delighted that I found your advice and was able to do something instead of sitting feeling helpless. Best feeling ever watching it try its wings and then just buzz off. Thank you x

  125. Hi there, I found a bee in the conservatory stuck in a web so I detached it then didn’t no what to do! Googled it and found ur website – she had sugar and water for about 5 minutes then circled around me about 5 times and flew off – feel great now – great advise thankyou! X

  126. Hi, Wendy! We dashed straight to Google when we found an exhausted bee on the window sill today and were directed to your site. :-) Thank you so much for your advice. “Our” bee is feasting on a caster sugar and water pancake and getting stronger by the minute – she waves her little legs in delight!

      1. Found a bee on my doorstep fed him sugar and water and out him outside then whilst I was work it poured down with rain so I rushed home picked him up thought he was dead but he then moved slightly kept him in my spare room overnight brought him down this morn and he’s know all dry and fluffy again gave him more sugary water which he lapped up he’s been stretching his legs and wriggling his wings put him outside again but he didn’t fly off what’s going on brought him back in as it started raining again

  127. Came across an exhausted bumble bee on my patio this afternoon trying to kick off the ants that were attacking it. Managed to get him into a little perspex pot, minus all the ants. I don’t take sugar so didn’t have any in the house for the recommended cure. The best I could offer was watered down golden syrup. I’m fairly sure I heard a little gulp which was followed by a timid buzzing and a staggering walk. I left him in the pot with the liquid for a while then underneath the pot on the patio so he was protected from any marauding ants. Have now placed him in the campanula, which is in full flower and had 5 bees (3 types) busy at work at the time. Hopefully, he’ll feel encouraged and will recover well!

  128. It worked fine for me! I even filmed it! You can watch the video here :

    I put the bee on a plate to make it easier for it to “drink”. After 2 minutes she was up flying! :-)
    Of course I didn’t manage to film the best moments of it… but I’m glad I could help!

  129. I found a bee on my pool cover and stupidly gave it rowse honey! Hope he’ll be alright.. I’m feeling awful now :/

  130. We rescued a bumble bee which looked like it had been caught in a bit of old spider web. Gave it the sugar solution and it has started to move but unlike other bees we’ve rescued that liven up after a few minutes, this one is struggling and just moving slowly and falling on it’s back, is he dying or should we persist, is there anything else we can do? It’s evening now and I don’t want to put him outside in the cold where birds could find him but it’s hard to watch him struggle : ( anyone got any advice?

    1. It sounds like he might have been in the spider web for too long :( I’d maybe give him some more sugar water and see if that helps and if not then I’m not too sure what more can be done. Nature is cruel sometimes. :(

      1. I found a bee struggling and throwing itself around my patio in South Florida. We often see this, as if they come here to die. I tried your solution but I believe I was too late. I’m not sure if it was dying or exhausted itself to death but it couldn’t drink and then went stiff. Maybe you could shed some light on this. If I can help them I will. There must be a hive close by. Are they dying? Or are they exhausted. How do I tell the difference? Thanks

        1. Jesse it’s possible the bees are getting sick if there are pesticides being sprayed near your area. :(
          I’ve also heard of bees getting “drunk” but not sure what causes their temporary state of inebriation.

    2. U don’t have to worry they will recover and be back soon and bees can find their way home and actually they don’t feel cold so its safe to release

  131. Tried doing this with a tired out pollen covered bee but she fell into the water and I think she got sticky. She started chugging the water down and wriggling about but now she seems to have gone downhill :-(

    1. Can anyone report furthur on this? I think a smiliar thing happened to one of the bees in my garden after i tried giving it some sugar water( it seemed like the wings got stuck together) can this happen??

    2. Bees can drown very, very easily, it’s a better idea to dampen a clean cotton cloth in the solution and then offer it up to the bee. Hopefully she’ll suck up the sugar water and recover.

  132. I didn’t know this until my bf told me today! We found an exhausted bee on the path in front of our home, so we took it back inside, mixed white sugar with a very small amount of water and left it on the kitchen worktop near the bee. The bee started drinking. I’m sure when we get home it will be buzzing around and we can open the windows for it to fly out! :) I will always do this from now on!

  133. I found an exhausted bee in my sun room, it could barely move, so I followed your advice and placed a tablespoon of white sugar mixed with a little cold water. Then placed the spoon next to it. The bee responded and started to drink , although weak after a few minutes the bee started to fly and it’s buzz was music to my ears. It’s currently resting and cleaning it’s self. So today I played a small part in helping nature. Life feels good. Now it’s chasing me as I tried to help it escape.

    1. I have just found a huge bumble bee near my local shop.Thought it was dead but on closer inspection it was barely alive.Took it home and put a spoonful of sugar water under it &watched it drink.10 minutes later it is now crawling away.I hope it lives

      1. i made mine a nest full of pollen, it started feeding straight away.
        the nest was protected from the wind in wisteria, hope it survives the night. i called hum mr bee.

  134. Bees feed on sugar syrup and love it. I have been blessed to witness and perform the same in the bee-hive boxes ( apiculture ) in my native places. My father is accomplished in apiculture and taught me the same using SEERA ( the sugar syrup from Rasagolla; A sweet dish from my place ). It can easily be done by keeping the syrup in a bowl and putting a clean cloth on it, all the way to outside. Bees will suck the syrup out of the cloth via capillary action and not drown. We even use the same to feed bees in he rain, when food becomes scant for bees in our area.

      1. I have tried saving a few exhausted bees by the sugar-water potion but they never touch it and die :( it’s quite sad but I’ll keep trying

        1. I had visitor today gave it honey (now read that’s not good) water ,aloe vers squeezed from leaf and fresh thyme I had in fridge made it a bit more energetic . recovered within half hour!

  135. Sovereign reported he gave “him” a drink of water and sugar. All bees are female except when it is mating time in which case “drones” are created. The drones have a very short life span (only one gets to mate with the queen) and are larger than the honeybee.

    1. A queen can mate with up to 20 drones, she very rarely mates with just one. If she did, she would not be a very successful queen in terms of egglaying, genetic diversity etc…

    1. I gave some sugar and water to a bee recently and when I checked on it later it had gone I do hope she flew away. A day later I found one on the pavement barely alive I picked it up and took it into the safety of my back garden it didn’t look good but I still have it a small drink it’s evening time now I’ll check on her in the morning but I think she was dying. If I had left her on pavement she would have been squashed blessed little souls

  136. I’ve left one on the bedroom floor, feeding off lemon curd – hope that won’t kill it!? Also, left a water drenched piece of tissue next to it. I’ll report on what happens later.

  137. Thanks for this article, found a bee on my window sill exhausted and unable to fly and barely able to walk, tried the water and sugar as recommended and after taking a drink the bee cleaned itself for about 15 minutes then flew off. Can I also say that if you find a bee in your kids paddling pool or any water in fact, if you use a large serving spoon (usually the ones with holes in for draining peas) then if you fish out the bee and place in a sunny spot they are also revived once they dry off :-)

  138. About a week ago we found a honeybee resting on the NW side of the house at dusk. Perhaps it did not have enough energy to return to the hive. We brought it into the house and provided a supper of honey & water on a spoon. The bee spent 15 minutes at supper then crawled onto a curtain for the night. Several hours after sunrise, the bee was at the window so we opened the door and guided him out.

    That evening there was another bee roosting on at the same point so we repeated the exercise. However, the second bee ignored our supper and flew to a darkened crevice (over the kitchen flourescent light). He too was at the window but we did not see him take the available supper or breakfast of honey & water.

    1. please do not feed bees honey except that from their own colony as there is the potential to spread disease. Also use cane sugar.

      1. I brought a tired bee into my home and filled a tea spoon with water; and two tea spoons of sugar. But the bee has no interest in it. What should I do now?
        Tuesday 14th March 2017.

        1. If it has no interest I would put the bee back outside, and place the sugar water next to it. That way if it wants a drink it can take one, and if it wants to fly off it can. Good luck!

          1. Hi I just rescued a bee from a spiders web and it was buzzing just before I got to it, now it’s not making any noise I have put on a plate with a little bit of
            Sugar water but I’m not sure if it’s dead or just exhausted now :(

          2. Wendy, recently i was at my local park and i’d been eating honey. I soon attracted a small swarm of hungry Bee’s. I regularly visit the park and play with Bee’s using only sugar water. I kept Bee’s in Uni and I play with local Bee’s to educate the public about the importance of these beautiful creatures. However, I only use local Honey. They will sometimes take foreign Honey but it’s not recommended. Myself and a few appropriate adults used to take. youngsters on Bee rescue patrols😁. It was very popular. It’s nice to see there’s plenty of people like yourself who care for Bee’s as much as me!

        2. Same here . I found a bee drowned in the tub I filled today morning that is 10 April 2017 in my verandah . I saved her and dropped two three drops of Dabur Honey in front of her but she did not drunk . I read one more text how to prepare energy drink for bee and made it but she had no interest in it too . I had left her in my letter box of my home as I was in hurry for school . She is just moving but not drinking anything. She is moving herself by dragging her nody. Means she is neither able to fly nor able to walk . Tell me what to do . Thanks

        3. I think the sugar is enough you should try keeping him on a rose so he can feel the nature!

          And also bees like to hover on water (pure water) try that.

          Regards.

        4. What a lovely site .
          I sometimes rescue a Bee 🐝 following the sugar water rule and it is a great feeling when a nearly lifeless little Bee’s engine starts up again .
          Today I picked one up from the lawn who was struggling and did the sugar water routine and that didn’t seem to help . Often it takes a little while for the sugar to work so whilst I was waiting I very gently blew warm air on her and after 8 or so breaths the engine started her wings started to vibrate and off she went .
          My question is , should I perhaps not breathe over her , incase I give her germs ? .

    2. O my yes it does work I’m so chuffed. Found one on my balcony put it in a bowl with sugary water and left it just went back and it’s gone

    3. Very good advice! It’s worked on several occasions when I have given bees sugar water. Having seen them almost struggling to move, a tablespoon of white sugar and a little water added placed near them works wonders. They will instinctively move towards it if they need it and after a couple of minutes they fly away full of energy!

    4. The best way to save a honey bee us 1. Fresh grass,fresh flowers… Keep nesting material fresh. Feed fermented fruit strawberry or blackberrys. Keeps bees hydrated also the fermented berry provides natural antibiotic. The thing you want to avoid is touching human scent can often cause in for seen harm,if touching is needed,put vanilla extract on hands will help in not sharing human scent. Good luck.

    5. I actually just rescued a bee a few mins ago. Was driving home from an appointment and saw the bee sitting on the windshield of the car. Whole ride home it didn’t bother to fly off despite stopping at stop lights. I figured it was probably dehydrated so I got some sugar water on a spoon and took her on my hand and tipped the spoon so it can drink it…sure enpoughkeepsie it drank it and I can see the energy coming back to the little bee after a few minutes. I tried to put some sugar water on a flower and put the bee on the flower as well but as soon as the bee was on the flower it flew off.