h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Tricky with bugs indeed - a few months ago I had an in-person meeting at work and a colleague was sitting next to me coughing, but I managed not to catch that one. Then a couple of months ago I picked up a cold from somewhere unknown and I somehow managed not to pass it to my mum. Last month my mum picked up a cold from somewhere unknown and passed it to me. It wasn't too long a recovery for me, but I have a bit of a different yardstick to you - I'm 44, but colds used to linger longer when I was a child because my asthma wasn't so well controlled in those days - I send best wishes to Raven.

Amazing about the bee trusting you could help - well done on locating a dandelion

I think this is wonderful. My sister tells me that when my nephew (who is about your age, Sasha) was just a toddler, playing by himself on the farm, she got worried because he was sitting on the porch crooning to himself.

He was hunched over, obviously holding something. It turned out to be a bumblebee.

Which had landed on him. Which he was petting like a cat.

He's a dad and a physics teacher now, with lots of kids and robots to play with. But he was the first one I knew who ever petted a bee.

Wow I see that some bumblebees can sting if they feel threatened, but I can imagine the bee felt like it was being nestled in a flower as it was being petted by your nephew

You know, I'll bet you're right.

Raven has a real fondness for bees, and carries around a bee rescue pot she has used to bring one home in an emergency. My purely anecdotal experience is that they're pretty docile unless they feel threatened.