Bees behaving badly: bumblebees steal pollen from rivals

Bees are thieves, stealing pollen and nectar from nearby nests, scientists have discovered

By Sarah Knapton, Science Editor

4:32PM BST 15 Sep 2015

With their stripy jerseys and built-in pollen swag bags it might come as no surprise that bumblebees have been found to be nature’s burglars.

For the first time bees have been spotted stealing pollen and nectar from neighbouring nests.

Bee experts at the University of Sussex placed tracking devices on insects from three colonies in farmland in East Sussex to monitor how far they travelled in search of pollen-rich flowers.

But they were amazed to find that for one in eight bees the prospect of a hard day flitting from flower to flower was clearly too much effort. Instead they simply flew to nearby nests and pilfered the pollen and nectar that was already stored there.

Continued ...

Fox returns stolen handbag

A West Sussex man has told how a fox stole his wife's handbag - before bringing it back to her a few minutes later. Jeremy Clark, 38, of Burgess Hill, near Brighton, was preparing to go to hospital with wife, Anna, 35, when the fox pounced. 

He told the local Brighton Argus newspaper: "We were in the car park and he looked at me for a few seconds before letting out this feeble yelp. "Next thing I knew he had my wife's handbag in his mouth and was running towards the bushes." 

Mr Clark says he screamed at the fox to drop the bag but the animal scuttled off out of sight. "Anna had everything in there: her phone, money, purse, keys and letters. I couldn't believe the fox had just taken it - it was mad. I thought that was it," he added. 

But a few minutes later the fox crept back into the car park, with his tail between his legs, and dropped the bag at Mrs Clark's feet before running off. Mr Clark added: "I have no idea why, we couldn't believe it. We see the fox around quite a bit. I think people feed it." 

http://web.orange.co.uk/article/quirkies/Fox_returns_stolen_handbag