We tend to keep our kitchen skylight and conservatory windows closed for fear of burglars. For fresh air we open the patio doors wide and with the fresh air comes the inquisitive bumblebee, the wasp and the fly.

I do my best to catch them with a tumbler and envelope; to return them from whence they came before they exhaust themselves and eventually die, butting vainly against the vast expanse of glassy windows; that invisible wall that stands between them and the great outdoors … And home I guess.

Yesterday I came downstairs, opened the doors and before the kettle had boiled for tea, a foraging bumblebee was in and buzzing around in considerable frustration. I armed myself and pursued him along the ridge of a conservatory window-frame up to the very top where it narrowed into the acute angle of its junction with the other stays.

I tried to stop him but on he went deeper into the corner which now I saw was strung with webs and waiting therein, a reddy brown spider about half its size or the span of my small finger nail. In a moment he was tangled and the spider was upon him. I turned away.

I was quite shocked and thought he would have got away. And guilty; should I have done something more? I went back and took another look – too late, all gone! Behind the plastic conservatory frame a charnel house. For the rest of the day I was quite depressed. Not just for the bumblebee but for the ‘bumbler me’

However much you try you cannot avoid the thought that like the bumblebee you are banging against a glass that is simply beyond your comprehension and no matter how positive and ‘can do’ you are, there’s just no way that are going to unlock that door.

The lesson: look after the bumblebee and in a funny way you look after yourself. And if escape has always been up, up and away but its not working; you’re probably banging your head against a glass ceiling. Stop. Take stock … Use all your senses, feel where the breeze is coming from, or going to, and change direction.

And remember to stay clear of dark corners or you could end up in a very sticky situation.
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