I hate it when that happens. I heart my snark.
But anyway, I'm going to talk about bees instead.
Fellow Traveler, as I've mentioned in previous posts, has developed a fascination about beekeeping. I myself, gardener that I am, are fond of honeybees even though I've never really thought about raising them. And I keep running into articles like this one, about the hard times honeybees are facing these days; how they need all the human friends they can get.
We are not at the hive-purchasing phase...we're not even at the hive-visiting phase, although we want to finagle ourselves into a tour or two this spring. For one thing, we're still at the baby stages of getting into our glass hobbies and gardening, let alone taking on a new endeavor. And I also have stepchildren to think of: "What the hell are you letting our mom do?..." But the more I think about it, the more I'm digging this idea as a long-term goal -- not a commercial enterprise, mind you, just a household hive out back. And even if we lose the magnificent obsession with beekeeping per se, I'd like to make our yard a more bee-friendly place, if not for bees of our own then for the honeybees I was so delighted to find in my garden this past summer, after so many summers of seeing hardly a one, and the native species of bee that are also losing ground to disease and habitat destruction. I see more flowers in our future.
6 comments:
Why did I click that link? WHY DID I CLICK THAT LINK?! Four sentences in and my brain broke (jeezy creezy, are people seriously making medical decisions based on CHARTS THEY FOUND ON THE INTERNET?!?! Ow, ow, my brain, OW!) Quick skim of the rest of it and WHAT THE EVER LOVING HECK?!
Bees. I like bees. They're pretty. I've only been stung by one once, and that wasn't its fault, I had to walk through an area near a hive and the poor thing got caught in my hair. The author Neil Gaiman keeps bees in his backyard, he writes about them on his blog a lot. A friend has become interested in bee skept making, and skepts are different from the modern hives because you really can't get the honey out without destroying the poor bees. He makes them for decorations, though, in homes. Here is how to attract bees through garden plants and such.
Hi! Just found your blog yesterday listed at http://ecumenicalwomen.org/about/.
Bees have been a growing interest for me this past year as well. I'm looking forward to attending the first meeting of our local Beekeepers Association this month and hope to start a hive in 2011. :) Thought you might be interested in this site, http://www.biobees.com/
Enjoy your journey with the bees!
lisa
I'm already starting a bee plants list.;-)
we have plenty of bees in se arizona....even today they were checking out the few remaining roses. they are awesome and so important...just, well watch out for the swarming africanized bees, they are dangerous.
Hi LC,
Bees are way cool -- especially if you tend them organically, as you would an organic garden. Let the bees be bees. Good tips here:
http://beehuman.blogspot.com/
Bill
To be honest, bees and other stingy things creep me out. But I know their importance as pollinators of our food. An article last spring or summer in our local paper was saying that there are fewer and fewer around here and many hives are dying. They were asking that if anyone found hives in or around their homes not to exterminate them but call a bee keeper to come and save them.
I've known a couple of amateur bee keepers. My great grandfather kept bees in Hungary and would take them to farms and forest for many miles around to get various kinds of honey.
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