The singing bee comes like a little ship, And docks beside a rose for cargoed wine, Its gossamer paddles spinning in the air A little plane upon the flower vine. It anchors in the bell upon its quest, And lulls its motor in the crimson bower, Then with its honey glides on to the west, [...]
Archive for the ‘Beetwixt & Beetween’ Category
The Bee by Edwin Curran
Posted in Bee Lore, Bee Present, Bee-ology, Beetwixt & Beetween on December 23, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
The First Bees in Australia
Posted in Bee Lore, Beekeeping, Beetwixt & Beetween on December 18, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
“In 1822 the first hive bees were brought to this part of the world (Sydney), by a Captain Wallace, or Willis, in the ship “Isabella,” according to Haydon. From the bees thus introduced colonies were propagated and distributed inland. In the Government Gazette, of 21st June, 1822, there appeared this advertisement : — “Hive of [...]
Christmas Bee Snowflake
Posted in Bee Present, Beetwixt & Beetween on December 18, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Snowflakes are beautiful decorations on Christmas Day. Why not make your own? Rowse Honey have a lovely site with two designs. All you need is a pair of scissors and a grownup to help you. Make a few if you like. You can colour them in too, or add some glitter to make them even more [...]
Bees Don’t See Red!
Posted in Bee Lore, Bee Present, Bee-ology, Beetwixt & Beetween on June 25, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
What colors creatures see has long interested scientists, and aside from us, more is known about what colors bees see than any other living thing. Like us, bees are trichromatic. Whereas we base our color combinations on red, blue, and green, bees base all their colors on UV, blue , and green. Just as color [...]
Best Bee Animation Ever!
Posted in Bee Lore, Bee Present, Beetwixt & Beetween on April 22, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
The following animation takes my vote for the best animated bee movie ever: Here is some background on Dot’s story (running away from her world as it is being destroyed – and saved by a bee!). It also gives some great insights into the world’s smallest film (even though it is a subtle advert for [...]
Bees Solve Travelling Salesman Problem
Posted in Bee Law, Bee Lore, Bee Present, Bee-ology, Beetwixt & Beetween on December 11, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
I just love stories that show that the world of bees is unexplainable, beyond individual intelligence and that even to the most brainiest of scientists can’t explain how they do it! Scientists at Queen Mary, University of London and Royal Holloway, University of London have discovered that bees learn to fly the shortest possible route [...]
This Year’s Honey Harvest and Dissolved Notes
Posted in Bee Present, Beekeeping, Beetwixt & Beetween on August 22, 2010 | 2 Comments »
With the first two weeks on holiday, the bees had to wait until last weekend before I removed the honey. We took four full supers – which will produce a good crop – though I have not extracted it yet. Planning on that next weekend. I always leave a super on each hive to over-winter. [...]
Escaped Prisoners!
Posted in Bee Present, Beekeeping, Beetwixt & Beetween on June 11, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
It is a while since I last wrote a post. Life has been a bit hectic. I was expecting it to have been even more hectic as we are half-way through the swarming season, but I have only collected one swarm so far this year. The rest of this post is about that swarm. A [...]
The Plight of the Honeybee
Posted in Bee Present, Beekeeping, Beetwixt & Beetween on April 28, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
So you want a little bee like me to write a story about the current plight in the bee kingdom (or more strictly correct, queendom)? Humans have become increasingly aware of the stresses and strains that have been placed on the bee population. Not just the honeybee, but bumblebees and other types of bees. There [...]
Ted Hooper RIP
Posted in Bee Present, Beekeeping, Beetwixt & Beetween on March 30, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
The author of the “beekeepers bible” has died aged 92. Not a bad innings, as they say in cricket! More at: http://www.britishbee.org.uk/news/obituaries/ted-hooper-1918-2010.shtml