Maybe she did swallow the spider to eat the fly

Bees, Nature,

Many of you have probably heard the nursery rhyme about the old lady who swallowed a fly.  I do not remember it from my childhood but our kids loved to hear us tell them the story.  It’s an old story but may freak out some folks (as a proper nursery rhyme should!)

So, as my father-in-law and I were pulling honey supers off of the hives last week, I noticed a funny little spider loitering.  Spiders often loiter around bee hives.  Roaches do too but I shall speak no more of them.  I hate roaches.  Actually, all sorts of bugs hang around bee hives to pick up the detritus naturally generated by the colony.

A spider eating a honey bee

So, I watched my spider friend for a few minutes and sure enough, in a quick move, he reached up and grabbed a bee that I had injured in the harvesting process.  I may be wrong, but I think that is the first time I have seen a spider make off with a bee!  I am always amazed by the circle of life (or whatever you want to call it) that goes on around a bee hive.  Aside from the colony itself, the bees support other nearby bugs as well as providing pollination services to many trees and other flowering plants.  Most importantly, they provide me with honey!

Anyhow, I love to just watch the bees and take time to see what happens around the hive.  There is quite an education to be had there.  If I ever swallow a fly (or a bee), I am definitely going to swallow a spider too!

In case you are not familiar, here are the lyrics to The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly rhyme…

There was an old lady who swallowed a fly
I don’t know why she swallowed a fly – perhaps she’ll die!
There was an old lady who swallowed a spider,
That wriggled and wiggled and tiggled inside her;
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;
I don’t know why she swallowed a fly – Perhaps she’ll die!
There was an old lady who swallowed a bird;
How absurd to swallow a bird.
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;
I don’t know why she swallowed a fly – Perhaps she’ll die!
There was an old lady who swallowed a cat;
Fancy that to swallow a cat!
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;
I don’t know why she swallowed a fly – Perhaps she’ll die!
There was an old lady that swallowed a dog;
What a hog, to swallow a dog;
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat,
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;
I don’t know why she swallowed a fly – Perhaps she’ll die!
There was an old lady who swallowed a cow,
I don’t know how she swallowed a cow;
She swallowed the cow to catch the dog,
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat,
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;
I don’t know why she swallowed a fly – Perhaps she’ll die!
There was an old lady who swallowed a horse…
She’s died, of course!
 
The moral of the story:  Never swallow a horse!

4 thoughts on “Maybe she did swallow the spider to eat the fly”

  2. I had that book! I think it was the first book I ever ordered from Scholastic books in Mrs. Horton’s 1st grade class!!!!
    Spiders are yukky. I am the spider killer up here.

  3. I’m glad your bee didn’t die in vain. Feeding a hungry spider (Jumping spider, btw) is a good way to round out that circle of life.

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