Texas Bee Watchers

Single Bee Sends Gathering Of Humans Into Helpless Panic

Just a little Bee-Friendly laugh for today. Enjoy.

DALLAS—A western honeybee measuring barely one-quarter of an inch in length and weighing approximately .03 ounces triggered panic among a gathering of six fully-grown Homo sapiens during a picnic at Davis Park on Monday, witnesses reported.

via www.theonion.com (Click on the link to read the whole story and get a little laugh.)

Bee Watchers Don't Tweet–We Buzz

I just couldn't help it!

Do you get stung by bees?

I get asked this every time I give a talk.  The answer is no.  I was stung by honeybees several times when I was a kid, however.  I grew up with a yard of St. Augustine grass interspersed with clover. The clover produced "stickers" for seeds and cute flowers that attracted honeybees. And all the kids in my neighborhood went barefoot during the summer. A recipe for semi-disaster–at least in terms of stickers, stings, and screaming kids---but we lived to tell about it. 

That's a big bumblebee!

Recently, I've received several emails asking about stings.  I've found a  couple of websites about stings which you will find fun and interesting. 

Getting stung may hurt. OK, it may hurt a lot. But just how much?  Thanks to Justin Schmidt, developer of the Schmidt Sting Pain Index, you can learn just how much that yellow jacket sting (like spilling a beaker of hydrochloric acid on a paper cut) or honeybee sting (like a matchhead that flips off and burns on your skin)  is going to hurt. Check it out below.

Schmidt Sting Pain Index

And if you'd like to understand why some people can stand a lot more pain than others (all women, IMHO), check out the following article which explains why:

Your Genes May Make You More Pain Sensitive to Stings

Remember:  Don't mess with any hive you see. It could be a honeybee hive, but it could also be a wasp or hornet nest. These little animals are going to defend their hive from you and sting you. Solitary bees are much less likely to sting you, but if you try to catch a Carpenter bee or a Bumblebee with your bare hands, well, you might just deserve that wake-up call!

 

 

Basket Makers Love Bees Too!

This summer I met a fantastic group of women from the Bay Area in northern California at their annual Basket Making Retreat at Donner Pass in the SIerra Nevada.  After four days of Basket Making, they warmed up to a little Bee Humor. Enjoy!

And they had a follow-up act too!

More Bee Watcher Humor

Strange Coincidences with Bee Nests and Basket Maker

Oh, my.  This large photo shows one of the first photos of the nest of a rare solitary bee.  It's made of flower petals!  

Dr. Jerry Rozen, a real official bee expert with the American Museum of Natural History, along with a bunch of other bee watchers, found this petal nest in Turkey while another group of bee watchers found the same nest in Iran. On the same day! What are the chances of that happening?

But, that's not the only interesting thing.  Last summer I attended a workshop on basketry with Jutta Frankie, wonderful wife of Dr. Gordon Frankie, another official bee expert from California. To the right is a photo of the beautiful basket she made that day–months before the photo of the solitary bee petal nest found by Dr. Rozen was published. It bears an uncanny similarity to the actual solitary bee nest, doesn't it?

Is there some amazing solitary bee channeling going on here? Does Jutta Frankie know more than she's letting on about solitary bee nests? 

Perhaps we should get some official bee experts to attend the next Basketry workshop? 

Or perhaps, I'm just spending too much time in the Texas heat at the Bee Garden.

 

It's the Bee's Knees!

The other day someone asked me what the phrase "bee's knees" referred to. I found several websites which gave an explanation of bee's knees.  The Phrase Finder website gives a pretty good explanation for the term. Apparently coined in the 1920's, it's a nonsense term for 'excellence' and was one of quite a few nonsense words to mean the same thing.

All that research reminded me of a message I received from Bee Watcher John Huecksteadt, a Hill Country Master Naturalist. John is a ham operator and enjoys using Morse code. His favorite Morse code phrase just happens to be "bee's knees."  If John were to imitate the Morse code, it would sound like this: 

dah-di-di-dit/dit/dit/di-di-dit//dah-di-dah/dah-dit/dit/dit/di-di-dit. 

Just try saying that real fast. I bet John is real good at recognizing bird calls too!

John kindly sent a file along of the actual Morse Code of "bee's knees." 

Bee's Knees in Morse Code

Just a little Bee trivia on a hot spring day here in Austin. I'm going to see if I can work this phrase into my conversations tomorrow. Should bee fun.

As Temps Rise, so does Bee Humor

It's going to be 95 today in Austin.  Besides being the "Live Music Capital of the World", Austin is also known for its slogan, "Keep Austin Weird."  Maybe I could add "Home of Bee Humor!"

But the bees are flying in the gardens. Mealy Blue Sage (Salvia farinacea)  is drawing tons of Carpenter Bees (Xylocopa sp.) and some Bee Watchers are relaxing and telling bee jokes while watching native bees.