The Spider and the Bee



As you probably know, we are alowed to walk locally, for excercise.  So every day we try to explore a different path through the olive groves.

This morning we followed a track we hadn't tried before. There's a basic rule, that it's almost impossible to get really lost - there are enough landmarks to aim for.

Today we ended up scrabbling up a bank, having taken a wrong turn in the maze.  Walking between an avenue of olives, Al saw a big, fat spider in a web, slung between 2 trees.  Looking closer we saw an insect caught and wrapped.  Then in front of us, a bee flew into the web.  I had the camera in my bag, and we watched as the unfortunate insect quickly attracted the spider's attention.  It embraced the bee for a few moments - probably injecting an immobilizing agent.  It then efficiently wrapped the bee in a silk cocoon, food for later.  Take a look at the unfolding story.

The spider

The bee is caught in the web

The spider tackles the bee

Wrapping

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