City of Bees: Notes of an Urban Beekeeper
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Re: City of Bees: Notes of an Urban Beekeeper
#2"It is not my world. Despite being called a 'keeper' I have no control here. I am an observer, capable perhaps of small assistance for the needs I see, or of compensating for the limitations of the manmade boundaries that I put them into. I don’t understand half of what is going on; I am often reminded of that. I can discover a problem only to find the bees are already halfway to fixing it themselves."
Wonderful. Thanks for sharing
Re: City of Bees: Notes of an Urban Beekeeper
#3I have a fun bee story to tell. Last week I was at a small cafe with a garden at the rear where they keep some hives (set back from where customers can sit)
Anyway we were sitting down enjoying a coffee when we suddenly hear this loud sharp buzz sound whipping above us, and it's someone flying a small drone, doing flips etc.
Two seconds later this monstreous swarm of bees emerges from their hives and basically engulfs the garden leaving everyone screaming and fleeing.
It might have been a coincidence, but the owners reckoned the drone probably spooked them, the huge buzzing sound might have sounded like a hornet or some other threat
Re: City of Bees: Notes of an Urban Beekeeper
#4So my wife and I placed some lavender and other pollinators at the mailbox at our house. Fortunately it has grown well and now when I grab the mail every day there has to be around 20 bumble bees going around doing their thing. It’s cool to see. We have a garden but also try and plant pollinators and other types of plants too just to try and recreate a little bit of an ecosystem.
Re: City of Bees: Notes of an Urban Beekeeper
#5I have a fun bee story to tell. Last week I was at a small cafe with a garden at the rear where they keep some hives (set back from where customers can sit) Anyway we were sitting down enjoying a coffee when we suddenly hear this loud sharp buzz sound whipping above us, and it's someone flying a small drone, doing flips etc. Two seconds later this monstreous swarm of bees emerges from their hives and basically engulf…
One theory is that loud buzzing-like noises can drown out their ability to communicate. So some of their communications are through pheromones but they also use a buzzing dance to communicate nectar locations. So the theory is that things like lawnmowers and weed eaters make it so they can't communicate and that makes them defensive. This is usually due to the volume and had to be close to the hive. It's possible the higher pitch of the drone more closely aligns with their buzzing and doesn't need to be as loud to be disruptive.
Re: City of Bees: Notes of an Urban Beekeeper
#6We are starting our first apiary this year!
Re: City of Bees: Notes of an Urban Beekeeper
#7It always strikes me as odd when articles like this portray the individual working with animals as having, or wanting to have, some sort of closeness to nature, or reverence for the natural processes that support the life they seem in awe of. Because invariably, they then feel some sort of entitlement to interfere with the processes and steal from them. In this case it’s honey, but we do it to so many living things.
Having respect for these natural creatures and processes means letting them live on their own without a sense of entitlement to steal from them. Honey is for the bees, not you. You don’t need it, and they do. Let them be(e) and just bask in the fascinating world of the hive as only an observer, not an intruder (as the author says themselves!)
Re: City of Bees: Notes of an Urban Beekeeper
#8It always strikes me as odd when articles like this portray the individual working with animals as having, or wanting to have, some sort of closeness to nature, or reverence for the natural processes that support the life they seem in awe of. Because invariably, they then feel some sort of entitlement to interfere with the processes and steal from them. In this case it’s honey, but we do it to so many living things.…
> Having respect for these natural creatures and processes means letting them live on their own without a sense of entitlement to steal from them
Like maybe we should have some respect for bee keepers and let them do their thing without going on the internet and telling them they are living their lives wrong....
Sarcasm aside, I think it is very important to prioritize sustainability and treat everything in nature with respect. But that does not mean that we, as humans, should never interfere with nature. How could we live in that case? Basically all organisms interact/interfere with other organisms all the time. It is what it means to participate in an ecosystem. Humans need to focus on having a positive impact on their ecosystem in stead of just "letting them live on their own". Particularly in the case of bees, I am not a scientist, but I expect it is better for the ecosystem to have more bee keepers keeping more bees, even if they take some honey, then it would be to leave the bees to fend for themselves....
Re: City of Bees: Notes of an Urban Beekeeper
#9Wouldn't the horrendous pollution up there poison the honey to the point of being, well, not very good for you?
Same way as fruit and veggies grown on the side of a busy road aren't exactly fit for human consumption
Re: City of Bees: Notes of an Urban Beekeeper
#10It always strikes me as odd when articles like this portray the individual working with animals as having, or wanting to have, some sort of closeness to nature, or reverence for the natural processes that support the life they seem in awe of. Because invariably, they then feel some sort of entitlement to interfere with the processes and steal from them. In this case it’s honey, but we do it to so many living things.…
> Having respect for these natural creatures and processes means letting them live on their own without a sense of entitlement to steal from them Like maybe we should have some respect for bee keepers and let them do their thing without going on the internet and telling them they are living their lives wrong.... Sarcasm aside, I think it is very important to prioritize sustainability and treat everything in nature wi…
I never said I don’t respect anybody, for what it’s worth.
Also, I believe we should try to minimize our impact on the environment, which means not messing around with animals when we don’t need to survive, as is the case with bees. I agree with you that it’s impossible to live without disrupting natural processes, but we can aim to do as little as we need.
And honey bees are often extremely detrimental to native bee species which are also pollinators, so having more honey bees being kept by beekeepers can be actively very harmful [1].
1. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-problem-with-...