Texas Bee Watchers

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.

Bees and other insects in your garden

I found an interesting and entertaining webcast by Dr. Eric Grissell, the author of Insects and Gardens: In Pursuit of a Garden Ecology.  Skip through the first 5 minutes of an overlong introduction by someone from the Library of Congress, and you will be rewarded with Dr. Grissell explaining why insect and plant diversity in your garden is a good thing. The webcast lasts about 40 minutes, but I found him to be an engaging speaker. He's also a professional Bee Watcher.

The information in this webcast will help you understand why you need to plant a diversity of plants in your Bee Garden.  

Solpugids?

Apparently a Solpugid is a type of spider, but I'm always going to think of doughnuts and ladybugs when I hear the term. Kristie Reddick and Jessica Honaker, former TAMU entomology students and the brains behind Solpugid Productions make some really fun bug videos. Take a look. I know you'll love 'em. 

They've also partnered up with the Department of Entomology at TAMU to produce a regular podcast and they have an interesting podcast on tracking native bees. Check it out.

Bugging Bees Podcast from Solpugid Productions