Saturday, July 07, 2012

Beekeeping is sexy...

Beekeeping IS sexy. And I got myself a sticker from beekeepingissexy.com...



I put my "Honeybees are badass" sticker on my naughtiest hive. They have been a little cranky since they arrived in a nuc on day one. When my friend Pierre helped me install the nuc, they had a go at him. I have been stung twice at this hive, which isn't a lot in the grand scheme of things, except that I almost NEVER get stung at my hives. So these girls are BADASS by my standards!



The bees seem to be doing well this summer but it has been very hot lately (our car thermometer read 37C/98F yesterday, and the humidex was over 40 C/104F. There is another heat warning on today because the humidex will be over 40C again. The girls "beard" on the front of the hives when it's like this, because it's too damn hot to be hanging around inside!


It wasn't so bad when I took these photos at 8:00 am today, but the girls were busy ventilating the hive.



They sit on the landing board and fan their wings to direct air into the hive. It amazes me that they coordinate to do this!



Of course, some bees like to be differnent and hang out on a sticker!



I expect to see a lot more bees hanging out on the front of the hive when the temps rise later today.



But really, she's not bad ass at all. I love these little creatures!


21 comments:

  1. You learn something new every day in blogland. Great photos. Have you named them all yet? ;-)

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    1. You know a hive can have 60,000 bees, right? ;) But I could name the queens!!

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  2. The one on the sticker must be the poster girl for badasses.
    We have on and off showers today, no humidex Sun Mon Tues then right back into the wraparound heat.
    Jane x

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    1. glad your humidity dropped a bit today! It was definitely better here today than yestderday, but 31C is still too hot for my liking. :(

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  3. Will there be a bee limerick contest?:-)

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    1. THere will be some sort of bee contest, but we are thinking of something other than haiku or limerick. Stay tuned!

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  4. Honeybees are such fascinating creatures. I love that you got photos of the one on the sticker. That's pretty cute.

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    1. They aren't really badass, just my little sweeties! And it's sobering to think that if they all came out of the hive and stung me, I'd be dead. But they don't!

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  5. A pretty gal named Knatolee
    went to bat for the sake of a bee
    when called "real badass"
    she said "that's not crass
    it's the truth, and they'll sting you, you see"!

    So it's not TECHNICALLY a limerick, but I don't want to bust out my best moves until the CONTEST.

    hint hint...

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  6. I love your girls...(Are they ALL girls?) My son can get over the fact that I pray for your bees on very hot days. Well...I like honey. I want bees to survive the heat. And (for balance) I also pray for old people. Heat is hard on us, too.:-)

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    1. Actually, they aren't all girls. We do have some drones right now, but since they don't sting and don't do any work in the hive, I don't alway remember to mention them! :)

      I am sure my bees appreciate and benefit from your prayers, Claude. I feel sorry for them when it's this hot!!

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  7. Keep encouraging your girls--badass or not--to keep up the good work. It's amazing that they will do the fanning thing to bring air inside the hive!

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    1. THey do some really amazing stuff that most people don't know about. I need to put together a list of amazing things honeybees do. I am in awe of their collective brain!

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  8. I love these pictures - and the comments on this post! I'm a pretty big fan of bees, too, so please keep 'em coming! LOL @ "Bees are Badass" - that's priceless. :)

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    1. I will work on more bee photos!

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  9. I didn't know that they would fan together to get cool air in the hive.I'm puzzled as to why the one hive should have such a nasty disposition.

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    1. To be honest, they really aren't nasty. Just compared to the other hives whose inhabitants never sting me, two stings is remarkable! :) Really they are not an aggressive hive. Different things affect bee behaviour. Sometimes it's the state of the hive; are they queenless? Has a skunk been pawing at the hive entrance at night, enticing bees to come out, then eating them? Some of it is breeding too! Gentle bees breed gentle bees!

      One thing I have noticed about the "badass" hive is that they make more propolis (a resin) than the other hives, and love to stick everything together. They have completely propolized their screened vent hole on top of the hive. So when I go in to inspect and have to start pulling things apart, there's more knocking around and such than with the other hives, which doesn't make the girls particularly happy!

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  10. Is there a "beekeepers are badass" sticker or patch? I would like to put one on my bee suit! :)

    I keep hearing about all this very hot weather from other beekeepers. Since I live so close to the coast, I have a natural air con. My bees are so unaccustomed to hot weather that they beard outside on their porch at 80 degree weather.

    Hello cat!

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    1. I wish there were!! I'd put one on my suit too!! :)

      Poor hot little bees...

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  11. Well fancy that! I didn't know the bees fanned their hives!

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    1. They do a lot of fanning to regulate temperature within the hive. It's amazing, really!

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Thank you for all your comments, which I love to read!