Poor thing. What a way to go!!!!

wow what a short life! I did not know that

Charleen!

Well at least they love what they are doing and they get to do different jobs during their lifespan. The foraging is the last one they do as only adults get to do that. Just imagine, being a bee and getting to go up close and personal to those great smelling flowers.

Right!...then on to rainbow bridge!!! What more could bee?

Ridesredmule said:Poor thing. What a way to go!!!!

ah...but not unlike the human condition.

Hello all! Just thought I'd pop in here & introduce myself. Most of you I don't know but a few I do. Hi Jamie! Hey Charleen! I have finally gotten a moment to join in & have looked around the forum a bit. I have posted in some of the other forums about how DH & I have moved from the southern end of the state to the northern end & have bought 5 ac. & have to (GULP) build or have built a home on it. Not a task we are looking forward to. I'm looking forward to when it's finished & we are living there. Then we will get some hives going. YAY!!!! Haven't had hives in years & years.
Okay, some background here: Growing up, daddy almost always had at least 2 - 4 hives so I was introduced to honey bees at an early age. He taught us kids everything he knew about them & we helped him often in all aspects. My DH was also doing bees. As a kid he would knock over the local bee keepers hives for fun. Well, that fella wasn't stupid. He went to my DH & offered him a job (part time after school) helping with the bees & extracting etc.... After some time DH finally confessed that he used to knock over the hives. The bee keeper told him he knew that & that's why he hired him. Wiley fox; he said if DH worked with the bees for a while he would come to understand & appreciate them & would no longer knock the hives over. So DH did that for some years. Then there was Vietnam & stuff. Some years later DH went to work for the fella who had bought out the local bee keeper. By now it was a big operation. DH & I would do the extracting on a per barrel (55 gal. drum) basis. then we would drive the barrels up to the middle of the state where Souix Bee had a plant & they bought the honey.
It's been many, many years since then but we both think fondly on those years & just love bees to death. Fascinating creatures. Surprisingly gentle creatures.
With having to build a house I expect I won't be able to join in on the discussions nearly as much as I would like to but when I can, I will.
Ann

Maybe you can break away and visit Ann. Mindy loves her bees and is a very talented friend....

When I have time I will; sometimes one needs some "down time" from all the gazillion details & decisions we are about to embark upon. This will help to give me that much needed down time. And help keep me going thinking about the end & when we will finally be able to have some hives again.

Welcome Ann I am so happy you will join us when you can. Please feel free to share what you know about honey bees and if you have pictures of hives and bees please post them here
Pictures Of Honey Bees and here Hive Photos

We've only had honey bees since April 2010 and still learning so I'm looking forward to learning from you.

Ann, did you see Mindy's hives? I love them, they are different colors. Grandpa alwayys had white..

Yes, I did. As she said, the color white is cooler & more reflective of the heat. Pastels can be used as she has done. Down here in Fl. one would do best to keep the hives white as we get so hot & have so much sun. However, colors can help the bees find their hive & keep them from drifting as Mindy says. A common practice down here is to paint a different colored dot on each hive to achieve the same purpose. Or you can use a dot here & a dash there & an x there & whatever your little heart desires. The bees will more easily locate their hive by the mark you put on it. This is especially important in commercial operations where you are moving them to different nectar locations. If your house got moved in the middle of the night & you awoke looking for your home after going out for breakfast you would be thankful for a familiar "sign" to tell you when you have the correct house so you don't try to walk in the front door of your neighbors house.
And with bees, you will be promptly ejected if not killed.

Wow!!! Neat information...

Guess what I got in the mail today thanks to my beloved DH.






Yep my very own bee suit. Isn't he wonderful.

Now rain and cold go away so I can go peek in the bee hives.

Go Mindy Go!

Way to go Girl..

Thank you.

A customer told me about a new way to eat honey. She bought a jar off of me and left it on the table during a dinner with friends. She said the gentleman guest spread it on garlic bread and loved it. She tried it herself after he told her how good it tasted and said it was great. So if you like garlic bread try some honey on it and see what you think.

http://www.youtube.com/v/xHkq1...
This is beautiful. Thought of you....

That was neat Charleen thank you for sharing

That was too awesome for words!

One of my Aussie girls had it!!! I loved it.