In article ,
Nad R wrote:

ectosaur wrote:
Nad R;911874 Wrote:
hollierose wrote:-
Nad R;911836 Wrote: -
hollierose wrote:-
Nad R;911766 Wrote: -
hollierose wrote:-
I filled in the questionnaire. I'd like to keep bees, it's just
time,
I don't have much of it and I don't have the right outdoor space, that
and I don't know very much about them either.. Although I do like
them.
They are lovely creatures.
-

Lovely creatures? Bees can KILL.

Yorkshire Terriers, now they are lovely creatures. Like a few other
creatures, they can only harm your heart and your wallet

--
Enjoy Life... Nad R (Garden in zone 5a Michigan)-

Bees, unlike wasps, only sting when they are very scared.. And they
can
die when they sting too. So because they don't do it to be spiteful, I
don't hold it against them.
-

When near a hive, if ONE bees stings you, it can sets off a hormone
that
bees react to. If bees in the hive detect that hormone, Almost ALL the
bees
in that hive will come out and sting that same spot or nearby that
first
sting.

Now that is where that smoker comes in, it blocks that chemical
hormone
so
other bees may not know about. The smoke confuses the bees. So one
sting
or
two should have no effect on the other bees. Without the suit or the
smoker.... RUN if you can! Also carry an injectable drug called
Epinephrine, just in case.

One odd thing, the queen can sting as much as she wants without dying.

--
Enjoy Life... Nad R (Garden in zone 5a Michigan)-

Thanks, I learnt something new there! To be honest even though I don't
really mind bees I would never approach a beehive. I find it odd that
the queen can sting as much as she likes without dying, am I correct
when I see she is significantly larger than the other bees? - that's
what I've been told, if so, that's pretty interesting too and I wonder
why that is. :S
-

Queens are larger but rarely seen. One queen to about thirty thousand
drones. If you see a swarm there is a queen in the middle. It will be a
young queen that does this. Once the colony finds a home, empty log or
another hive. The queen never leaves the hive, lives it's entire life
in
the dark, becomes blind and makes more bees. The worker bees and drones
serve the queen, feeds it royal jelly and protects it.

In the north, honey bees typically will not survive the winter without
a
hive. So many do not worry about swarms in the north. Honey bees are
not
native to the Americas. Honey bees comes from Europe. The Italian bees
are
the mildest and the most commonly used by beekeepers.

Now the most common bee one sees in the garden in the americas are
bumble
bees, they do not produce honey for human use and are native to the
Americas.

To me the Bumble Bee is the cool one and probably the one that is in
the
most danger of survival.

--
Enjoy Life... Nad R (Garden in zone 5a Michigan)

Agreed! Bumblebees are cute and fuzzy in a sleepy-looking sorta way.
Never been stung by one so wouldn't know how they compare in that
respect! Apparently the queens and workers can all sting indefinitely
too... If you've got a nice garden (which I'm sure all of you do )
you can build a wee nest box to attract them: 'Bumblebee nest box trial'
(http://tinyurl.com/4pn6s4e)

And let's not forget the solitary bee! 'Make a Solitary Bee House'
(http://www.foxleas.com/bee_house.htm)

Apparently mosquitoes and bats are good pollinators too


Interesting web site on bees.
Bats are pollinators? I wonder how bats do it? Now googling.

Mosquitos too.
--
- Billy
"When you give food to the poor, they call you a saint. When you ask why the poor have no food, they call you a communist."
-Archbishop Helder Camara
http://peace.mennolink.org/articles/...acegroups.html
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth...130964689.html