Today I had one of those “aha moments”. I was chatting with a good friend who has introduced me to bee keeping. It has been a bumper season and we will be extracting the honey from the comb in two weeks.
We were just having a leisurely chat amongst the hives. The bees are at that “grumpy” end of the season when they know that winter is approaching (hmm, I know that feeling). My friend turned to me and said, “Do you have any idea how tidy and clean bees are?” This was obviously a “Bee-keeper 101” question. I shook my head. He went on to explain. His bees had been so busy recently, that they were running out of room for the honey, so he dug out an old comb from storage in his garage. He told me it was in terrible state. The comb was cracked, and dusty; in real estate terms, a real “doer upper”.
Several days later he was checking on the introduced comb and couldn’t believe his eyes. The bees had repaired the comb, thrown out the cobwebs, dusted, cleaned and it was as good as new and gleaming with honey. The ladies had done the spring cleaning and were filling the pantry for the long winter.
So my new theory is that is why bees are grumpy at this time of year – too much extra housework!
No comments:
Post a Comment