Bees in your Garden?

(Ian) writes:
Funny thing is that 9 times out of 10 it is a wasp that has stung
someone, not a bee. Bee's usually don't sting unless they are
panniced or they are defending their colony. Bees are a social insect
instinctually flea from danger, where a wasp is an independent insect
instinctually attacking danger. I'm a beekeeper and am sick and
tiered of people always blaming bees for there sting. Wasps are the
aggressors, and if people actually payed attention, they could very
easily tell what stung them. A bee leaves her barbed stinger venom
sack, a wasp leaves only a welt b/c she has no barb. It seems the
hives that tend to bother people are the ones that aren't hidden from
sight.
Anyhow, another extremly efficient pollinating non stinging insect is
the Orchard Bee. They are very easy to keep and just about as good at
pollinating as the honey bee.

Even people living in an apartment block can keep a hive of bees.
An organic food store near me used to have a hive of bees inside the
store, with a plastic plumbers pipe winding up along the wall to exit
via a hole in the brickwork. A small platform made it easier for the
heavily laden incoming bees to land. I can't remember whether the pipe
was transparent or not (I guess it probably was, for the hive was a
display exhibit to interest the store's customers).

I can picture a determined apartment dweller might use his balcony as
the exit point for his bees to better diffuse their flight paths to
keep the hive from the notice of potential troublemakers. (Bees dump
their dead at the hive entrance, so arrange for this to be on your
balcony rather than have spent carcasses drop down to the balcony or
open window of residents below!). It would be a good idea to cap the
hive exit at night to stop a few curious bees from being attracted to
your lights (and, more crucially, those of your neighbours), but make
sure you remove the block before sunrise to allow the workers to go
about their business. Bees are early risers.

Just see and make sure that you secure the hive components so that it
can withstand a good jolt (even an earthquake) without coming apart!
You don't ever want to have to contend with a roomful of angry bees.
One last point: avoid the use of fly sprays, strong perfumes,
smouldering mosquito coils, and roach bombs! Bees understand that
persistent smoke means a bushfire is approaching, so they start packing
their bags ready to move out. Bees perform their own airconditioning,
so they probably would fare better where the apartment has none.

I think there is a sci.agriculture.beekeeping newsgroup, too.
--
John Savage (for email, replace "ks" with "k" and delete "n")

(Ian) writes:
Funny thing is that 9 times out of 10 it is a wasp that has stung
someone, not a bee. Bee's usually don't sting unless they are
panniced or they are defending their colony. Bees are a social insect
instinctually flea from danger, where a wasp is an independent insect
instinctually attacking danger. I'm a beekeeper and am sick and
tiered of people always blaming bees for there sting. Wasps are the
aggressors, and if people actually payed attention, they could very
easily tell what stung them. A bee leaves her barbed stinger venom
sack, a wasp leaves only a welt b/c she has no barb. It seems the
hives that tend to bother people are the ones that aren't hidden from
sight.
Anyhow, another extremly efficient pollinating non stinging insect is
the Orchard Bee. They are very easy to keep and just about as good at
pollinating as the honey bee.

Even people living in an apartment block can keep a hive of bees.
An organic food store near me used to have a hive of bees inside the
store, with a plastic plumbers pipe winding up along the wall to exit
via a hole in the brickwork. A small platform made it easier for the
heavily laden incoming bees to land. I can't remember whether the pipe
was transparent or not (I guess it probably was, for the hive was a
display exhibit to interest the store's customers).

I can picture a determined apartment dweller might use his balcony as
the exit point for his bees to better diffuse their flight paths to
keep the hive from the notice of potential troublemakers. (Bees dump
their dead at the hive entrance, so arrange for this to be on your
balcony rather than have spent carcasses drop down to the balcony or
open window of residents below!). It would be a good idea to cap the
hive exit at night to stop a few curious bees from being attracted to
your lights (and, more crucially, those of your neighbours), but make
sure you remove the block before sunrise to allow the workers to go
about their business. Bees are early risers.

Just see and make sure that you secure the hive components so that it
can withstand a good jolt (even an earthquake) without coming apart!
You don't ever want to have to contend with a roomful of angry bees.
One last point: avoid the use of fly sprays, strong perfumes,
smouldering mosquito coils, and roach bombs! Bees understand that
persistent smoke means a bushfire is approaching, so they start packing
their bags ready to move out. Bees perform their own airconditioning,
so they probably would fare better where the apartment has none.

I think there is a sci.agriculture.beekeeping newsgroup, too.
--
John Savage (for email, replace "ks" with "k" and delete "n")

(Ian) writes:
Funny thing is that 9 times out of 10 it is a wasp that has stung
someone, not a bee. Bee's usually don't sting unless they are
panniced or they are defending their colony. Bees are a social insect
instinctually flea from danger, where a wasp is an independent insect
instinctually attacking danger. I'm a beekeeper and am sick and
tiered of people always blaming bees for there sting. Wasps are the
aggressors, and if people actually payed attention, they could very
easily tell what stung them. A bee leaves her barbed stinger venom
sack, a wasp leaves only a welt b/c she has no barb. It seems the
hives that tend to bother people are the ones that aren't hidden from
sight.
Anyhow, another extremly efficient pollinating non stinging insect is
the Orchard Bee. They are very easy to keep and just about as good at
pollinating as the honey bee.

Even people living in an apartment block can keep a hive of bees.
An organic food store near me used to have a hive of bees inside the
store, with a plastic plumbers pipe winding up along the wall to exit
via a hole in the brickwork. A small platform made it easier for the
heavily laden incoming bees to land. I can't remember whether the pipe
was transparent or not (I guess it probably was, for the hive was a
display exhibit to interest the store's customers).

I can picture a determined apartment dweller might use his balcony as
the exit point for his bees to better diffuse their flight paths to
keep the hive from the notice of potential troublemakers. (Bees dump
their dead at the hive entrance, so arrange for this to be on your
balcony rather than have spent carcasses drop down to the balcony or
open window of residents below!). It would be a good idea to cap the
hive exit at night to stop a few curious bees from being attracted to
your lights (and, more crucially, those of your neighbours), but make
sure you remove the block before sunrise to allow the workers to go
about their business. Bees are early risers.

Just see and make sure that you secure the hive components so that it
can withstand a good jolt (even an earthquake) without coming apart!
You don't ever want to have to contend with a roomful of angry bees.
One last point: avoid the use of fly sprays, strong perfumes,
smouldering mosquito coils, and roach bombs! Bees understand that
persistent smoke means a bushfire is approaching, so they start packing
their bags ready to move out. Bees perform their own airconditioning,
so they probably would fare better where the apartment has none.

I think there is a sci.agriculture.beekeeping newsgroup, too.
--
John Savage (for email, replace "ks" with "k" and delete "n")

(Ian) writes:
Funny thing is that 9 times out of 10 it is a wasp that has stung
someone, not a bee. Bee's usually don't sting unless they are
panniced or they are defending their colony. Bees are a social insect
instinctually flea from danger, where a wasp is an independent insect
instinctually attacking danger. I'm a beekeeper and am sick and
tiered of people always blaming bees for there sting. Wasps are the
aggressors, and if people actually payed attention, they could very
easily tell what stung them. A bee leaves her barbed stinger venom
sack, a wasp leaves only a welt b/c she has no barb. It seems the
hives that tend to bother people are the ones that aren't hidden from
sight.
Anyhow, another extremly efficient pollinating non stinging insect is
the Orchard Bee. They are very easy to keep and just about as good at
pollinating as the honey bee.

Even people living in an apartment block can keep a hive of bees.
An organic food store near me used to have a hive of bees inside the
store, with a plastic plumbers pipe winding up along the wall to exit
via a hole in the brickwork. A small platform made it easier for the
heavily laden incoming bees to land. I can't remember whether the pipe
was transparent or not (I guess it probably was, for the hive was a
display exhibit to interest the store's customers).

I can picture a determined apartment dweller might use his balcony as
the exit point for his bees to better diffuse their flight paths to
keep the hive from the notice of potential troublemakers. (Bees dump
their dead at the hive entrance, so arrange for this to be on your
balcony rather than have spent carcasses drop down to the balcony or
open window of residents below!). It would be a good idea to cap the
hive exit at night to stop a few curious bees from being attracted to
your lights (and, more crucially, those of your neighbours), but make
sure you remove the block before sunrise to allow the workers to go
about their business. Bees are early risers.

Just see and make sure that you secure the hive components so that it
can withstand a good jolt (even an earthquake) without coming apart!
You don't ever want to have to contend with a roomful of angry bees.
One last point: avoid the use of fly sprays, strong perfumes,
smouldering mosquito coils, and roach bombs! Bees understand that
persistent smoke means a bushfire is approaching, so they start packing
their bags ready to move out. Bees perform their own airconditioning,
so they probably would fare better where the apartment has none.

I think there is a sci.agriculture.beekeeping newsgroup, too.
--
John Savage (for email, replace "ks" with "k" and delete "n")