In honor of earth and arbor day, I decided to share some odd bee facts on Twitter. My friends on Plurk asked if I would share them on Plurk.  

How could I not share them with you?!? I tried to pick facts that I haven’t shared before.  I’ve expanded the facts for the blog. 

Thursday Thirteen : Odd, and interesting facts about honeybees

1.  In the US, native tribes called honeybees ‘the white man’s fly’ as bees would arrive 5-10 miles ahead of a wagon train. 
Beehives were considered as essential as water or food. Not only did they predict the weather (bees won’t fly if it’s due to rain), the honey and propilis provide effect antibacterial properties. Pollen collected by bees is an excellent protein source and honey is a sticky sweet carbohydrate.  Wagon train folks weren’t stupid!

2.  A honeybee must visit at least 2 million flowers to make 1 pound of honey (the standard unit for honey).  
Honey is generated from nectar taken from flowers. The worker honeybee ingests the nectar.  Once at the hive entrance, the bee passes the nectar to another bee. This bee then passes the nectar at least one more time. It’s the enzymes in a bees stomach that turn nectar into honey. 

3. In the last 100 years, there have been 4 recorded bee plagues: 1916, 1960s, 1970s, and now.
In 1916, 90% of Europe’s honeybees were destroyed by a traceal mite. (The mite wasn’t discovered in the US until 1984. It exists now only in moist regions.) European bees were saved by a noble Capuchin monk called Brother Adam at Buckfast Abby. He traveled over 100,000 miles collecting the survivor hives then breed them until he created the Buckfast bee. (He’s a hero of mine.)  The 1970s saw the rise of the varroa mite. This is a particularly nasty mite that destroys hives over winter. Further, an infected hive becomes sensitive to viruses and disease.

4. The first thing a hive does every morning is flying back and forth in the direction of the sun. This is called a beeline. 
Imagine, if you will. You wake up in the morning, cup of coffee in hand, and wander out to the bee yard. What you will see is seemingly frantic bees fly up toward the sun and back to the hive. Over and over again they fly. Once they have it, off they go. Because bees navigate using the sun, they must know where their hive is in relation to the sun. 

5. Beekeeping was well established in Egypt by 2400 BC as depicted on 5th dynasty temple reliefs. 
The Egyptians used honey in embalming bodies because they believed that bees were the ‘zootype of the Soul.’ Thus bees were the messengers of the dead and speaking with them akin to speaking with the spirits of the dead.  This the English tradition of telling a hive when someone has died in the house stems. (Ancient Egyptians – the Light of the World by Gerald Massey) Recently, a 3000 year old man made Honeybee hive was discovered in northern Israel at an archaeological dig in the huge earthen mound called Tel Rehov.

6.  Honeybees recognize individual’s faces.
For a beekeeper, this can be an awesome thing or a horrible thing. I’ve pissed off a few bees who definitely recognized me later. That said, my bees tend to be calm, happy and hardworking. They let me sit right by their entrance and never investigate. I’ve taken hives to other locations where other people attended them. Those bees became anxious and hostile, like the people who attended them. Once home? They calmed right down. Go figure.

7. The oldest honeybee specimen is over 100 million years old.
For reference, human beings are believed to have evolved 3 million years ago. Crocodiles evolved 80 million years ago. Honeybees are believed to have evolved form carnivorous wasps.

8. Through pollination, honeybees are responsible for the creation of every flowering plant on earth.
Prior to honeybees, the earth was covered with coniferous trees. 

9. Bees are mentioned in both the Bible and the Qur’an.

Bible:  

• Deut.1 [44] And the Amorites, which dwelt in that mountain, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir, even unto Hormah. 
• Josh.21 [27] And unto the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, out of the other half tribe of Manasseh they gave Golan in Bashan with her suburbs, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Beesh-terah with her suburbs; two cities. 
• Judg.14 [8] And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcase of the lion. 
• Pss.118 [12] They compassed me about like bees; they are quenched as the fire of thorns: for in the name of the LORD I will destroy them.

Qur’an:

• 16:68-69: ’And thy Lord taught the bee to build its cells in hills, on trees and in (men’s) habitations….. there issues from within their bodies a drink of varying colours, wherein is healing for mankind. Verily in this is a Sign for those who give thought’.
• ‘Honey is a remedy for every illness and the Qur’an is a remedy for all illness of the mind, therefore I recommend to you both remedies, the Qur’an and honey.’ (Mohammed)

10.  The ‘Killer Bee’ (also called the ‘Africanized Honeybee’) was created by the USDA. Go team! 
The idea was to create the ‘superbee’ by crossing the gentle Italian honeybee with the more aggressive, but hardworking African honeybee.  The hope was to create a gentle and hardworking. They created a very aggressive, high swarming, low honey creating bee. Of course, a queen bee got loose in the Brazilians jungle and the rest is history. Africanized honeybees were seen in So. Utah this year. I’ve seen them in So. Colorado. These bees offer are a legitimate threat to the American (meaning entire continent) honeybee population. As they spread north, they breed with more winter tolerant bees. Once they can tolerate the cold, world domination will be next. Or something like that.

11. Honeybees will always stop what they are doing to take care of baby bees.
When we collect a swarm of bees, we often add a frame of baby bees. The swarming hive will alway stay to care for the baby bees. In fact, a honeybee will give another bee water and food even if it’s not from the same hive. Moreover, if a bee from another hive ends up inside a hive when night comes, they will stay to become part of that colony.

12. Honey is the only food source that does not spoil.
Honey changes form – from liquid to crystal – but it does not degrade. Honey found in Tutankamen’s tomb, or the site in Israel, is as good, and good for you, as honey taken from a modern hive. 

13. Colony Collapse Disorder is a big freakin’ deal.
Originally described in 1896 as ‘Disappearing Disorder’. In the 1960s, disappearing disorder caused wholesale havic causing many beekeepers to go out of business. It’s back, and it’s worse. Why is this a big deal?

• This is a world wide problem. This round of the syndrome was first sited in the 1990s in Europe. 
• Honeybees are not the only pollinators effected. In the United States, there has been a wholesale die off of all pollinating species including bats. 
• 36% of US beehives and 15% of UK beehives have been lost.
• No one has any idea what’s going on. There’s a million theories. But there’s always been a million theories. No one knows why this is happening. If someone tells you they do? Just smile and walk away. No one knows. (Best guess? Some kind of bee stressor.)

Read more Thurday 13s by going here.
Read more of my fascinating Thursday Thirteens by clicking here.

?

This video is 4 minutes long.

I have BIG news.

Or small news if you know me well. ?When I whisper my plans to my friends and loved ones, they say, “Of course.”

This video describes the WHY but not the WHAT.

In the next days and weeks, somethings will die.?

Open Grove Claudia is on her way out. ?She will be replace by Claudia Hall Christian. (Mark, you can still call me OG)

The Open Grove will fade. ?The Seeds of Happiness will take it’s place.

I just wanted to whisper to you…
“Change is coming… and it’s very good.”

Besos?

Disclaimer: All content of this article are the opinions of the author, please investigate facts on an individual basis.

It’s only a matter of time.

What am I talking about? I’m talking about my new fabulous L’Equip Blender. Turns out it’s deadly.

Check this out:

This is a piece of blender blade. It broke when I blended: 1 cup of frozen berries, 1 cup of cold soymilk and 2 pieces of frozen banana cut into 2″ slices.

I tried to return the blender to 877myjuicer.com. I was told that the only thing they could do was discount another blender. They continue to sell this blender.

I emailed the president of the company who manufacturers the blender and they said they were “disappointed” in these blades.

Disappointed? Really.

Hopefully no one will die.

Please pass this along to your subscribers. No one should purchase anything from 877myjuicer.com or Kitchen Resources.

If a company doesn’t give a shit that they sell a dangerous product, why give them your money?

Letter to president of Kitchen Resources

UPDATE:

Interaction with Kitchen Resources Product Manager, including my response.

Response from 877myjuicer.com: (8/5/08)

Hi Claudia,

Thanks for keeping me in the loop on this email chain. We have learned a lot about the RPM Blender because of this and have made an internal decision to discontinue reselling this product effective immediately. It is clear that there are dangers, which we were completely in the dark about until you brought them to our attention, associated with the LEquip RPM Blender and until we get undeniable proof that the problem has been rectified it will stay that way.

Thanks,

Andrew
877MyJuicer.com

While sitting on my neighbor’s deck, I overheard this conversation:

“Can you believe it? She actually keeps bees?” The woman said.? “She even said that she wanted to GROW her food this year.”

Was she talking about me?? I don’t know her.

“Oh, she’s ridiculous,” the other woman said.? “What does she thinks she has?? An urban farm?”

They laughed.

My neighbor whispered, “That’s not you.? They are talking about someone in Boulder.? They don’t need to know about your backyard.”

Now at least I know what to call our little project.

Here’s a little update.

Beehives:

• We have four beehives.
• One with a beautiful Zia Queenbee.
• Another that is in the process of requeening itself.
• And two swarms. The third swarm did not stay.

Gardens:

• Everything survived the last snow storm and is beginning to grow!
• We’ve planted almost everything.
• We are starting new beds because order 3 get 3 free raspberries plants meant 18 plants and not 6 as I thought.? I’d complain but come on. Who wouldn’t eat more raspberries if given the chance??
• We are still waiting for a blueberry and strawberries.? Our squash and watermelons have not come up yet but we are optimistic.

Bed 1

Bed 2

Bed 3

Hope your weekend is going well!

After waiting and pacing around for most of the morning, I watched the mailman’s back as he moved off our porch and on with his route on Saturday.

No queenbee in sight.

Two hours later, a breathless postman pounded on the door. Tucked under his jacket was a box from ZiaQueen. He said his boss drove the package out to him. Together, we opened the package to find a beautiful queen and five attendants.

She was shipped in a priority mail box. Yellow queen cage was set next to the blue sponge so that they could get some water. This is brilliant packing. She and her attendants were happy, unstressed and ready to go.

Here’s a photo of her shadow. It’s hard to see her through the yellow cage. You can see that she’s longer than the other bees. Because she’s not very old, she is also not very fat. She will fatten up as soon as she gets in the hive and starts laying.

In the second picture you can see her red dot. Queens are marked by their born year – this year is red.

What did I do with her?

Last week, I put a queen excluder between two hive “deeps” this force the nurse bees to rise to care for brood while keeping the queen on the bottom of the hive. I took the top box – with only nurse bees, brood and food – and created a new hive. Once they were situated in a new location, the worker bees will fly back to the original location leaving the nurse bees and baby bees.

Lost yet?

Basically, I took the top half of a hive and moved it to a new location. This creates a new hive.

Then I put this queen in the hive. There is a candy plug on the end of the bee cage. The nurse bees will eat their way though the candy plug (my fingers are holding it in the first picture) to release the queen. When I left her, the nurse bees were already feeding the queen.

(Bees are like that. If they see another hungry bee, they will feed and care for it – as long as it’s not a threat to their physical location.)

The queen cage keeps the queen safe until the nurse bees get used to her smell. They will readily accept her in about 3 days – the length of time it takes to eat through the sugar plug. I’ll check on her on Wednesday to see if she’s been adopted.

Today, I fed the original hive with sugar water (5 pounds of sugar to 1 gallon of water) to replace the food I took. I put the syrup into a gallon ziplock bag then lay the bag in the hive. I made a light slit so the bees can get the syrup. I have a bunch of fancy equipment that does this but ziplock works the best. (Go figure.)

I also go stung. What stupid thing was I doing?? I wore my yoga pants instead of my jeans. The first bee sting of the year always has a little fanfare.? Later on, it’s like “whatever”.

I should get another queen later this week. She’ll go in the “little” hive, which has managed to hang in there.

Thanks for your interest and support. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask.

Photo by Harlekwin – Bee in Pear Groves

Spent quite a bit of time in my hives on Sunday and wanted to give you an update.

My big hive? It’s big. There’s a lot of bees and no food. The bees are hungry and aggitated after 2 days stuck inside due to snow. Wouldn’t you be? I gave them a couple of honey filled frames (saved from last fall). I also took some of the bees and added them to the “small” hive.

The small hive? This hive has lots of food and almost no bees. So I added bees using what’s called the “newspaper method”. (You put newspaper between the different bees and they eat their way between.) There is a queen but she has been inactive. Hopefully, the addition of bees will get her moving again.

Now we wait and hope for the best. I will check them again on Tuesday to see how everything is going. My queen supplier hopes to have queens on or around the 23rd so… we just hold our breath and fiddle around until then.

All the rules and all the bets are off. I’m making it up as I go now.

Thank you for your kind thoughts, prayers and wishes.

This time of year, my mind turns to my honey bee hives. A hive can cling to life through the frigid winter, only to die in March due to Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD).

Thursday Thirteen #22 – You can save the bees!

Here are thirteen things YOU can do to help save the bees:

1. Don’t use any neonicotinoid or imidacloprid product such as: imidaoliprid, thiamoxetham, acetamiprid, clothianidin, thiacioprid, or any neonicotinoid. READ LABELS. These products are universally toxic to honey bees. Most of them are banned in every country but the United States. If you must use these products do so before or after blooming season.

2. Petition your state and city to not use neonicotinoids or imidacloprid. The insecticide lobbyists have Washington in their pockets. (For example, even though the world believes insecticides are as least partly responsible for CCD. However, insecticides weren’t allowed to be mentioned at a Senate hearing on CCD.) The only way to rid our county of this nasty chemical is a the state or city level. If your Mayor says he or she is a “green” mayor, ask him or her to prove it by banning these chemicals use or sale in your city.

3. Leave your dandelions alone. Dandelions are an excellent source of pollen (protein) for winter hungry bees. Is a perfect lawn really worth starving a species?

4. Support your local beekeepers: Beekeeping can be expensive, especially now. With the bees dying at a rapid pace (thus needing replacement), and the cost of wood escalating, many beekeepers stop keeping bees. For example, if we sold every ounce of honey that we harvest, we would cover less than half of our cost. Local honey protects you from allergies, increases your fertility and improves your health. Plus, if you’ve never had “real” honey, you owe it to yourself. It’s amazing in texture and taste.

5. Think about hosting a hive: Every beekeeper could use another place to set a hive. Live in an apartment? How about the roof or your balcony? One of the most unique honey project is run in the skyscrapers of New York City. Most beekeepers will maintain the hive and give you some honey for a chance to set a hive in a new location.

6. Learn about the survivor bee movement: So much to say…. Basically, various beekeepers around the country are creating a new species of honey bee which they hope are resistant to the mites and diseases which make up Colony Collapse Disorder. We are getting our queens this year from ZiaQueen. Most beekeepers, myself included, believe that this movement will save honey bees.

7. Support research: In the last 20 years, very little money has gone into honeybee research. Why do we know so little about Colony Collapse Disorder? No research. When asked if you would support funds for honeybee research, say “yes”. You may just save the planet.

8. Create a pollinator sanctuary in your backyard: While there’s a lot of conversation about honeybees (due to commerce), every species of pollinator in North America has declined as much as 60% in the last 10 years. You can help support pollinators by creating a sanctuary in your backyard. Try a mason bee nest or maybe a birdhouse. Humming bird feeders work for butterflies as well.

9. Pay attention to bee related legislation: Bees are huge business. Honeybees are responsible for most pollination of any tree born fruit or nut. They work the cranberry, blueberry and melon fields. A huge portion of what you eat was created by a honeybee. Vote pro-bee. Support candidates who are interested in bee research and protection.

10. Become a beekeeper: In 1950, over 50% of households had at least one beehive in back of their house. Beekeeping is fun, rewarding and a lazy person’s hobby. And beekeepers are really great people. Think about keeping a hive. Interested? Email me. I’ll point you in the right direction.

11. Plant bee loving flowers: Bees need flowers to survive. Replace a little bit of that waterhogging grass with some beautiful flowers. What do bees like? Coneflowers, Sunflowers, Cosmos, Baby’s Breath, Gaillardia, California Poppy, Lance-Leveled Coreopsis, Siberian Wall flower, Purple Prairie Clover, Forget-Me-Not, Glove Gilia, Plans Coreopsis, Black eyed Susan, Corn Poppy, Bergamot, Aspin Daisy, Rocky Moutnain Bee Plant, New England Aster, Rockcress, Lavender, or Lamb’s Ear.

12. Speak intelligently about Colony Collapse Disorder: There’s so much panic and misinformation around Colony Collapse Disorder. Here are the important points: 1) More research is needed to determine what is going on; 2) The best thinking is that it’s a combination of – bee disease, medications for bee disease, pesticides, and new bee related disease; 3) This is a world wide problem not just a North American problem; 4) All pollinators are effected. Don’t let the panic mongers create helplessness. We can overcome CCD.

13. Interesting bee facts:

• Bees are a prehistoric creature that predate even crocodile.
• Evolutionists believe that, after the first flower, bees created every other species of flowering plant.
• We’ve found a bee that is over 100 million years old.
• This quote: “If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.” was most likely NOT said by Albert Einstein.

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We used to do a lot of book reviews, and interviews with authors, in the Open Grove. In an effort to see what I want to do, and see what’s interesting to people, I agreed to write a couple book reviews.

Because of my diverse background, and ability to read quickly, I am often approached to review a certain kind of book – complicated, smart, and/or scientific. Hell, Kathy Reichs likes me (which is saying a lot given what she thinks of psychology).

I have a stack of books that have requested a review. Please note: I do not receive a dime for this review.

Let me know what you think. Does this work? Do you read book reviews?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

?“Whether we realize it or not, everyone is selling something. (…) Parents sell their children on being good citizen. And kids always sell their parents on something they want. To see this in action, just tell a kid no and watch the sales campaign begin!” (p.87 of All-Star Sales Book)

I have a fascination with sales.? Growing up, my sisters and I sold everything from magazine subscriptions to girl scout cookies. Our schools were strapped for cash and selling was the way to make the ends meet.

I was never very good at sales. My embarrassment over my own need (to make money or sell this crap), made opening my mouth virtually impossible.? Only the housewife down the street bought my products.? But she never said “No” to anything (including the mailman.? That’s another story.)

As an adult, I saw less qualified people get promotions and raises. I had friends who could easily move from high paying job to high paying job with ease. (One guy had 13 jobs in 5 years! At each new job, his salary increased by thousands of dollars.) Then along came the Open Grove.

Sales.

If I ever hoped to be successful, I had to learn how to sell. Seth Godin, Marketing Professionals, and a thousand books gave me some sense of what was necessary. Because sales is not my strong point, I will read any book about sales.

All-Star Sales Book is an easy and entertaining read.? There’s nothing profound here.? Believe in your product, visualize your goals, and move forward with integrity.

There are some nuggets.? Here’s one:

“We also lose confidence as we face life’s struggles and challenges – personal failures, business failures, bankruptcies, getting fired or laid off, failing to achieve important goals.? Some of these situations are within our control while others are not, but they can all negatively affect our confidence.? The bottom line is this: most adults struggle with a lack of confidence.

“So how can you regain this lost self-confidence?? You gotta take action!? Here is a simple formula I use when teaching people how to gain more confidence.

“action —> results —> success —> confidence —> action” (p.13)

Yes.

Whether you are a sales professional or a troglodyte like myself, this book is a good refresher. ? I like it.

If you live here in Denver, Billy Cox, the author of All-Star Sales Book is going to be in town today, March 11 and tomorrow, March 12.? He will be signing books at the Barnes & Noble at Southlands Town Center on tonight at 6 p.m. and the Barnes and Noble at Thorncreek Shopping Center tomorrow at 6 p.m.

For more information go to: Billy Cox International

Rather than visit the bees in early February, I decided to wait until a really warm day in early March.? That day is today.

It’s 70 degrees, no wind.? Perfect for an early spring peek.? I’ll tell you that I hate, absolutely hate, the first peek of the year.

Why?? Because no matter how strong a hive is in November, they can easily be dead or have disappeared via Colony Collapse.? I put off looking in the hives every year then, with a heavy heart, I get dressed, light the smoker and head out to the bee yard.

You probably remember that we started the winter with three hives – two Italians and one Russian.? All hives were packed full of honey and pollen – ready for a long cold Colorado winter.

Today?

• We have one hive that is packed full of bees and honey.? They are ready to go and it’s only March!? I will need to find a queen soon to split them or they will swarm.
• The Russian bees died over the winter.? They look as if they got the new nosema.? This is a disease that causes terrible diarrhea.? They were medicated for nosema but there is a new variety that is part of the spectrum of Colony Collapse Disorder.
• The third hive had about a hundred bees. I saw a big happy queen but no babies.? I fed this hive with frames of honey and pollen that I saved from the hive.

It’s supposed to dump snow tomorrow so I won’t be able to check again for a while.? Let’s hope the small hive grows, the big hive slows down and I can find some excellent queens (I hoping for Zia Queens but they are sold out for most of April and May – we’ll see!) to keep my little apiary going.

You may remember that I made a bet with FuriousBall.? Honey for a working PHP search.? He lost the bet so promised the PHP search.

Have you ever worked with a web programmer?? I have and the experiences are never ever rarely pleasant.? Most web programmers are more interested in boosting their flailing egos bank accounts than actually providing a service.

Anyway, let’s just say that my expectations were low.

But I like FuriousBall.? I’ve seen some of his other work.? He actually took the time to linearly find out what I wanted and what I needed.

This morning, after accomplishing a few things (it’s so satisfying to clean the toilet), I decided to sneak up on my SQL/PHP problem and FuriousBall’s solution.

I took a breath.? I closed my eyes.? I clicked the link.

And it worked.

The search works!

AND, the thing I needed (read: desperately needed) but didn’t ask for – an easy way to update the database – also works!

You simply cannot imagine? my delight and joy.? This means that I will finally be able to make the resources at the Open Grove available for people to listen and read.? It’s a huge deal for me.? Huge.

Thanks FuriousBall.

If you have any work you need done?? This is the guy to ask.? Nice. Thoughtful. Practical. Helpful. And, honorable.

YAY!