Perhaps now, we will wake up to the fact that we are
all connected in a delicate web of life; I am grateful to the threat of
Colony Collapse Disorder if it caused this to happen. There is some
speculation that Colony Collapse Disorder is not even real.
Scientists say there is no proof that the mysterious disease blamed for
the deaths of billions of bees actually exists. You can read about it here
in an article on BBC news:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7925397.stm
Yet the fact remains bees are being affected by something.
“The beehive is found in Masonry as
a reminder that in diligence and labor for a common good, true happiness
and prosperity are found.” -Manly Palmer Hall
I believe that some of the appeal of honeybees is
that a lot about them is still a mystery. Sometimes we can only
wonder at their ways. When my husband was the County Apiary
Inspector, I went along with him into the field as he went to investigate
an apiary that had been neglected because the owner had become ill.
My beekeeper was somber as he approached the hive and
saw what he had dreaded, no activity. Honeybees were not flying in
and out of the passageways, so, without bothering to put on his veil, he
lifted the lid on one of the boxes. Gravely he asked me if I wanted
to see their last emotion. I said, “What do you mean?” He then
showed me how the bees in the center had perished looking for food, with
their heads buried deep in the cells that had ran out of honey. The
outer bees remained at their stations where they had been keeping the hive
warm. Not a one of them were out of position, each still attended to
her duty right up until the moment of death.
“'Well,' said Pooh, 'what I like
best -- ' and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating
Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you
began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know
what it was called." -A.A.Milne
While there are a few things that I don’t enjoy about
being married to a beekeeper, like the threat of
getting stung, having bees everywhere - even in my hair and underwear -
there are many things that I love about it. For one thing, my
husband is doing something that he has a passion for; he believes in what
he is doing and he is contributing something worthwhile to the world...
and I love honeycomb. Early every summer I start craving my first
taste of our new crop of that golden ambrosia, honey still encased in the
structure that the honeybees stored it in. I have given it another
name: I call the little glistening squares of honeycomb, honeycakes.
My husband tells me that when there are a lot of
blooms and the weather is warm and dry, this makes for a good bee-run.
During times like this it is easier for the bees to make wax and they can
make it fast.
The
faster the wax is produced, the more tender is the honeycomb; he compares
it to eating sweet corn, fresh.
All in all, I have found the retired beekeeper to be
correct in his prediction. It has been a whole new world for me, one
filled with both good and bad, but all very interesting.
If you are interested in keeping bees you can contact your County
Agricultural Extension Office for information about local beekeepers and
bee-keeping associations.
Honey Bees and Beekeeping
is a great website, full of information about honeybees and getting
started with them.
Another great site which covers such topics as: Is Beekeeping for You,
Ordering Bees and Supplies and Installing the Bees, can be found here:
http://www.beemaster.com/site/honeybee/beehome.htm
“I think these are the wrong sort
of bees.” -Pooh, The Honeybee Tree by A.A. Milne
Often my husband will get calls from people who think
that they have honeybees in their yard when it is really wasps or hornets.
These flying insects cause much of the bad reputation that bees have to
live with.
Bee
Culture Magazine has a great online, printable page which
illustrates the different nests of stinging insects with great drawings of
the specimens themselves. Paper wasps, bald-faced hornets,
bumblebees, carpenter bees, yellow jackets and finally, honeybees adorn
this colorful page for those who would like to touch up on their
knowledge. It comes in color but I love printing this page out in
black and white and letting the children color it in as a fun way to teach
them about the different kinds of bees.
Ambrosia, 1-The food of the gods.
2- anything exquisitely pleasing to the taste.
3-Flower pollen collected by bees.
-Webster’s Dictionary
