A Queen Bee Can Sting Repeatedly
“If you brush [with a bee brush] downward on the bees to get them off the frame, they get really mad. Bees have no sense of humor. But if you brush upwards, so they kind of flick off, they think they’re at Valley Fair and the bees are okay with that.”
These are just a few pearls of wisdom I gained at my beekeeping class last weekend. I was so excited during the bee lecture — an adrenaline rush really. I was on a bee biology, environmental care, and science talk high, I could barely contain myself!
I’ve already checked with my city and found out they have no ordinance against beekeeping. They also have no guidelines, which could be good or bad. I plan on following the Minneapolis guidelines to err on the side of caution. This means I need to go get permission from my neighbors within a hundred yards.
I have so much more to share about bees, the awesome program the U of M has going, the incredible instructors, and so many other things occurring in the whole nature, gardening area… just not right now.
I think I’m coming down with a cold and my brain has already hit the sack. I’m going to heat up some water with lemon juice and add some honey, drink that down, and go join my brain in bed.
I hope you can handle the suspense.
What an intruiging thought, keeping bees. I like the idea.
We love bees! It is so fun to watch when the hive gets too overpopulated and a swarm leaves the hive. We had two neighbors with hives and other neighbors weren’t too happy about it. Hopefully you have better luck. When you talk to them maybe have a good info pamphlet about how important bees are and how their numbers are declining. That might sway them to be in favor of your beekeeping.
Lost Aussie – I like the idea too. I hope I can get the neighbors to like it too.
Horsemom – Living in the city, swarming is the thing I need to avoid and there are ways to do that, which is what we learned in the class. It’s a lot of work, involving adding enough boxes for the population to expand. Here in Minnesota, the older bees generally die off in the winter so that helps also for population control. And yes, I’m trying to come up with a good sales/education pitch to put into a pamphlet. I hope bees are one of your topics with your homeschooling. =D
Sorry…I’m scared of bees. Well, actually, it’s my skin that’s scared of them. 🙁
Thanks for dropping by my place and saying hi!
Wishing you luck with the neighbors!
How serendipitous…i was just going through my google reader and saw this post today. of course, i immediately thought of you and knew you would enjoy it, too….
http://smcbphoto.com/2012/03/06/a-tale-of-two-bees/
Oh, yes, we have done an extensive bee study with the boys. They know all about the benefits of bees. The funniest story that came out of our study was when that same my night my oldest son passed gas. I told him to say “excuse me,” and he replied “I’m a bee and I sense danger.” At least I know he was listening!
My grandfather raised bees. It’s a testimate to his skill that I never got stung.
And I stayed inside alot, watching him mess with them from the window.
My grandfather used to sting himself with bees for arthritis.
I don’t think I could EVER do that.
(You have two word verification on – blogger changed everybody at once. You can turn it off, but you have to mess with it a bit
Oh how I adore fresh honey but I’m allergic to bees, I won’t be carin’ for any hives naked or otherwise. Heeehehehe!!!
Truly…the Queen can sting more than once??? Guess that’s why she’s the queen!
God bless and have an incredible day sweetie!
How’s Luke???