Beekeeping folklore
Posted on 18th April 2020 at 16:58
This blog post is about traditional sayings and lore concerning the craft of beekeeping and folklore surrounding bees. I intend to update this post as titbits cross my path. Here are a couple of item to get us going.
Dandelions
Honeybees regulate the tempreature inside their hive between 32 & 35C. This tempreature allows the brood the develop. Bees will tolerate the hive being opened, the question is; when is too cold to open the hive?
I was told "if you can work in shirt sleeves its warm enough" That makes sense. If you pulling on jumpers and getting wrapped to go outside then it is probably too cold to be opening hives.
One from Chris at Elm Tree bees
"Good beekeeping is all about knowing when to open them up and knowing when to leave them alone.
Dandelions give you a pretty good clue!"
Dandelions close at night and don't open until it warm enough.
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Tell it to the Bees
In many cultures there is a tradition of keeping the bees informed of any family news in the household, marriages, births and especially deaths. Beekeepers also need to talk to the bees in calm voices and never use harsh words for fear of upsetting the bees. There is a scientific basis for the last sentence. Bees are sensitive to pheromes (chemical signatures) and vibration, rough language creates vibrations and a person in an elevated state of excitement (fear or anger) give off pheromes both of which the bees detect and to which they react.
I did a blog about this a few years ago. Read it HERE
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The bee friend, by Hans Thoma (1839–1924)
Modern Times
On May 22nd 2017, a man walked into an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena and detonated a bomb, killing 22 people. The senseless loss of life left both the city and country in shock,
Almost immediately, heartbroken Mancunians looked for a symbol of resistance, resilience of community, which they found in the humble worker bee. Local tattoo parlours were inundated with people wanting to have the bee, the symbol of Manchester’s industrial heritage, inked onto their bodies in an effort to raise money for those most affected by the atrocity. In the wake of violence, humanity rallied around a creature that has been an integral part of our lives for centuries, an insect that has shaped the world we live in.
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