Beekeeping

I had the unexpected pleasure of attending training on beekeeping today.  It was quite interesting.  Some fun facts I learned included:

1. We have a beehive here on our compound (I didn’t realize that).
2. Bees may attack you if they don’t like your perfume (or actually, they just don’t like perfume in general).
3. The queen bee is a bit of a floozy. On her maiden voyage, at the tender age of 7 days, the queen bee leaves the hive and mates with 8-10 drones (male bees), leaves them behind and heads back to her hive. All male bees who have mated with her, or attempted to, will die. Not a good deal for the drones.
4. Whiskey can be used to treat a bee sting. Apparently it’s supposed to be used topically, but I’m guessing drinking it would also help to dull the pain.
5. There are honey badgers here, and they are one of the predators (or honey robbers) we discussed, along with humans, wasps (aka bee pirates), and ants, to name a few.
6. If bees don’t like their hive they will abscond.  (I just liked hearing the repeated use of the word abscond.)
7. If bees come toward you and swarm around your head, you should put your hands up on either side of your head to try to break their communication and calmly walk away.

As the lesson concluded, I thought I had done pretty well taking notes and soaking in all the knowledge.  Then something buzzed by my ear, and I flew out of my chair and ran across the room.  It was actually a wasp.  But the incident was quite embarrassing for me and entertaining for the instructor and my fellow students. I think I definitely failed that one. 

Bee hive at our house