I think it is a great idea to start a small hobby beekeeping
operation. The bees will facinate you to no end. Visit the form site
www.beesource.com, it is loaded with great tips and advice. There is
a specific form for beginner beekeeper, so no question is left
unanswered.
Buy your bees after you have researched them a bit. They are a bit of
an envestment of time and money, but will pay you loads of dividends
with honey and pollination services.

Ian

in article , Ian at
wrote on 3/10/03 4:27 PM:

I think it is a great idea to start a small hobby beekeeping
operation. The bees will facinate you to no end. Visit the form site
www.beesource.com, it is loaded with great tips and advice. There is
a specific form for beginner beekeeper, so no question is left
unanswered.
Buy your bees after you have researched them a bit. They are a bit of
an envestment of time and money, but will pay you loads of dividends
with honey and pollination services.

Ian

Ian,

I've not bought any. There seem to be plenty around. Someone in my
neighborhood must have some because I always have bees on everything.

The biggest surprise was how much they love duckweed. Yes, duckweed. I took
my son to the Achafalya swamp in Louisiana one summer and brought back a
film cannister full of duckweed.

I dropped the duckweed in my little plastic backyard pond. Well the bees
came flying in, landed on the duckweed, used them as 'floaties' so they
could drink the water. It was so cute!! So now I always make sure I have
some duckweed in my pond.

Best -- LL

Mike Waldvogel, PhD
Extension Specialist, Residential & Industrial Pests
Dept. of Entomology, NCSU-Box 7613, Raleigh, NC USA 27695-7613
Ph: (919) 515-8881 Fax: (919) 515-7746
Email:
Wrote:
I'm not sure what you mean when you say that wasps are
"independent". 'Social' doesn't describe the insect's disposition;

I can see that from my previous comments, I'm going to have to explain
my reasoning a bit better. This is how "I" understand honeybee and
wasp behaviour so bear with me.
Honeybees require the function of the colony at all times to survive
from year to year. They depend on eachother to perform various tasks
within the colony to maintain colony cohesion and keep social order.
A honeybee at any given time throughout the year could not survive
without the colony function.
Wasps function as a colony only for part of the year, wintering and
propagateing independly. Sucsessfully wintered queens emerge from
hibernation and independenly start a new nest. Raised females take
over her job of foraging for nectar and pollen and she remains in the
nest laying eggs and providing social order within the nest. Late
summer, early fall rolles along and she starts laying solely Queens,
which emerge and are cared by the female workers. It is these queen
who independenly propagate the species by leaving the nest, and winter
sucessfully to start a new colony.
What I was trying to imply was most honeybees ( our Euorpean type)
instictivally flea danger unless trapped, panicked, or aggitated
around their hive. Where a wasp whose instinctivly more defensive,
will also flea danger, but will attack danger more readily than
honeybees. I find especially during times of late summer and fall.
They are equiped with a barbless stinger and may attack without
penalty of death.
Wasps do not store nectar for later use as bees do, becasue they
winter as individual queens. The wasps foraging intensity increase
during the later months as the queens emerge. Late summer, and fall
floral sources are somewhat scariss in most reagions, so they go after
sugars found around humans. I think because food is more scarce they
are more easily aggitated and punishes anything that angers them.
(independent insect instinctually attacking danger)
Honeybees are the only insect which collects and stores nectar as
honey. It is stored to provide energy for the bees to generate heat
throughout the winter. Because of this fact the bees usually are
plugged with honey in their hive from summer forageing and their fall
foraging earges are reduced. That and the compounded fact that the
bees are fed sugar water to bulk the hive up a bit which eliminates
most of the need to forage. (social insect instinctually flea from
danger)
When you think of it, a honeybee colony enters winter around 40,000 -
50,000 stronge, where a wasp nest approches the 100 mark. And it tend
to alway be the wasp that is the pest in the fall.
Also I think that a huge factor is that Yellowjackets tend to nest in
ground near trees and buildings. Bolt faced hornetts tend to nest
under eaves and in trees. Becasue of this they are usually nested
near peoples yards, and become easily aggitated. I bet alot of stings
come after a lawn mower has gone over a Yellowjackets nest.
Don't get too excited about my comments becasue these are just my
observations and thoughts.

Ian