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  • General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
 #10693  by Bobbysbees
 27 Apr 2021, 20:42
Just some fun really. If you know of any or can confirm or disprove them feel free to chip in.
A few I've heard are..
Bees dont forage in the garden or apiary they are in. I guess dont eat where you poop applies here lol.
Swarm traps work better 8ft to 12 ft off the ground. My wife is stuffed then she gets giddy in heels :P
Bees will attack if you wear black. Ok so no goths or emos in the apiary.
Bananas mimic the attack pheromone. No eating a banana split before hive inspections :(
Bees prefer to expand their hives vertically. So they wont nest under your floor boards. Maybe cause thats where the fairies hide in winter.
If you tell the bees your worries they tell all the other bees. I truly hope so cause good therapy is hard to find :D
(I know the other reason to tell the bees too.)
A three year old queen is past her prime and should be replaced. I though that was just middle age so looks like im stuffed too. :lol:
P.S
this is not here to start or end any arguments its just some fun .
 #10695  by Patrick
 27 Apr 2021, 22:51
Strewth, where to start?

Ok, two to go, no onions and hold the cheese

1. If bees have started swarm preparations you will stop them by just adding an empty super. Good luck with that y’all :roll:

2. The less protection you wear, the better beekeeper you must be. This logic also explains why top racing drivers compete in just shorts and flip flops and experienced lifeboat crews go to sea in only speedos and spray tan..
 #10698  by Steve 1972
 28 Apr 2021, 08:42
Clipping Queens causes them to swarm :D .
I have heard the one where bees do not forage on there doorstep.. :roll: ..my bees have obviously not read the rule book..
 #10699  by NigelP
 28 Apr 2021, 08:46
Where to start....:)
Bees do forage in your garden...well mine do. But I think they prefer to forage in areas with denser nectar concentrations.
The bananas stuff is in fact bananas. The bees alarm pheromone is isoamyl alcohol. It might smell like bananas to us but it is not the smell that true bananas give off which contain no isoamyl alcohol. So you can waft a real banana over your open hives with impunity.

But hey most beekeepers will continue to believe these and other myths despite the facts getting in the way.
There are "believers" and those who seek a more accurate scientific answer.
 #10701  by AdamD
 28 Apr 2021, 09:31
I tried throwing a banana skin on top of an unhappy colony. (top bars, not the roof!) and the bees took no notice at all. So from that experiment, I had a 100% result. Stastically very good!

I repaired the 'thumb elastic' on an bee suit with black elastic (the elastic that holds the cuff close to our wrist by stretching over your thumb) and that's where the bees went for, so the contrast certainly got the girls interested. Once when I was awarded a BBKA badge, the awarder (Respected NDB and Master Beekeeper) suggested it was a good target for badly behaved bees to go for if sown onto my beesuit.

Bees do prefer to expand vertically as it helps with heating - however they are very adaptable and will expand within the space available to them.

My queens rarely get beyond 3 years - 2 seasons and not all will survive the subsequent winter and if they do, they are likely to have slowed down considerable or are superceded in spring.

Bees will forage around the apiary if there's enough to get them interested (although the round dance, used for short distances, doesn't give direction so they may sometimes miss out). There's a row of holly trees running from my home apiary which is sometimes buzzing and there is currently a wild plum which is covered in bees.
 #10702  by AdamD
 28 Apr 2021, 09:37
People believed that banging pots and pans would encourage a swarm to land; other ideas included tinkling a brass bason (basin or bowl), pan or candlestick. Some disagreed and threw dust or pig or cow dung into the air.

As a swarm attractant, It was said that you could add 2 - 3 handfulls of dried peas to a skep and allow the pig to eat them. Then you had to rub the saliva that had dribbled out from the pig around the hive with a linen cloth. If anyone want to try it, be my guest!
 #10703  by Alfred
 28 Apr 2021, 13:34
AdamD wrote:People believed that banging pots and pans ....
So all that 8pm Thursday evening thing last year was actually beekeepers not a cruel attempt to wake up NHS shift workers?
 #10705  by Bobbysbees
 28 Apr 2021, 14:09
; :Love the contributions hade me smiling all day.
The pots and pans might not work but I have seen sprinklers used to put them off flooding out of the hive to give time for you to intervein.
The black thing I'm not sure about I wear black jeans most of the time (a throw back to my eye liner days at high school) and they tend to be skinny fit or were till this covid thing. Now I wear anything I can can squeeze my gut into. Not had and stings on my legs.
As for protection it depends what I'm doing, but on the whole if I could get/afford a full vented suit that didn't make me sweat like crazy dam right I would wear it. Although half the time I'm too lazy and just pull on a vail and gloves and try to keep calm.
If your calm when you inspect your bees your bees will be calm....yeah ok Zen and the art of beekeeping. :P
If you get stung regularly you build up tolerance to it. I will let someone else try and prove this one thanks :lol:
Bee stings help arthritis. It seems my knees say I should try the aforementioned trial.( there is some evidence to say this works.
 #10719  by AdamD
 30 Apr 2021, 08:53
"If you get stung regularly you build up tolerance to it. I will let someone else try and prove this one thanks"

I get the occasional sting and don't react (yes it still hurts a little for a minute or two or makes me jump if unexpected) whereas a dozen years ago I would get a swelling, so I would agree with that statement.
 #10720  by AdamD
 30 Apr 2021, 08:54
Alfred wrote:
28 Apr 2021, 13:34
AdamD wrote:People believed that banging pots and pans ....
So all that 8pm Thursday evening thing last year was actually beekeepers not a cruel attempt to wake up NHS shift workers?
:lol: Definitely! :lol:
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