First I learned that I guess bumblebees reproduce through live birth, which…I had never even imagined was possible? Anyhow, after that, it was pretty much inevitable that I’d keep clicking on Related Videos until I fell asleep. Hope you’re well.
This, you know, pretty quickly led to “Honey Bee Queen Getting Balled in My Bare Hand (workers trying to kill the queen)”
“I’ve never seen anything like this before, so I just picked it up off the ground…These bees are very agitated.” That is not my first response to seeing a cluster of angry bees, but sure, I’ll watch this!
“The term “balling” in the honey bee world has nothing to do with sex, as some people have commented. Sorry guys.”
“Installing a new queen bee to a Langstroth hive after squishing the old queen because her progeny were always a little bit surly and a bit too much in our faces.”
Not a bad idea!
This is so timely! My dad, who is retiring in March, announced at dinner this past weekend that he has signed up for some beekeeping courses! This is just the latest in a long line of increasingly dadly pursuits – smoking his own beef jerky, roasting his own coffee, and now bees!
Sounds to me like your dad is killing the hobby game!
Sounds like a great story for the next Dad Magazine.
Interview! Interview!
My dad picked this up as a hobby last year, too. The Beekeeper’s Bible may be a good Father’s Day (or birthday) gift depending on the timing. Or Foxfire #11, if he has any of those. 🙂
A few years ago, I had a pamphlet through about the different evening classes being run at my local college, and one of them was called ‘So You Think You Want To Keep Bees’, a course title that still delights me to this day.
Oh sure a human woman can’t even breastfeed in public without finding trouble but a bee can give birth in public with no complaints. Double standards!
(I hadn’t even considered beekeeping youtube existing even though of course it does and now this is probably what I’ll bee doing when I get home tonight.)
I loved that somebody’s final proof that cow tipping doesn’t actually exist is that there are no videos of it on youtube. Which I consider to be pretty darn conclusive.
I’m pretty sure Bumblebees lay eggs, since they’re insects. So that video is leaving me very confused as to what the hell is going on.
Sex seems to be what’s going on.
http://www.bumblebee.org/lifeMate.htm
Ah, okay. That makes much more sense. Get a room, bees.
Get a…hive?
Thank you! That was unbelievable, and not in the good way.
Bees are lovely, I’m so glad this exists!
Ah, my favorite gif of all time. Rarely is it executed so pitch perfectly.
Gob’s not on board.
Bumblebees do not give live birth! Aphids do, and some flies birth larvae (not adult flies). But as far as I know, no wasps or bees or ants do this–you were right to think it is not possible! They all lay eggs, which hatch as larvae, then pupate to the adult stage. Those bumblebees were just having a good time 😉 and the cameraperson didn’t get close enough to see what was going on.
This is extremely relevant to my interests. It’s literally one of my life goals, in some fantastic future when I have large chunks of free time, to have a small apiary. (My name means “honeybee”! It’s fate!)
So for some reason, a while back, I stumbled onto the woodworking section of YouTube, and spent many a pleasant evening falling asleep listening to the sounds of lathes, drills, saws, and sanders. But I’ve grown weary of this pursuit. I sense a shift in my sleep-inducing YouTube content. Thank you dear Mallory!
Ah, you beat me too it 🙂
Bee you to it
A pun? That stings.
Endless love.
G.O.B.’s not on board.
I don’t judge, I kinda enjoyed ‘The Wonder of Beekeeping’ on BBC Four last year: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01t6nz6
I love the days when, after 2.5 hours of damage control first thing in the morning – the Toast provides the perfect balm.
My first thought upon reading this was, Langstroth Hive Queen #1 is a martyr to the cause of the apian sexual revolution. May Queen #2 raise a swarm of even surlier in-your-facier warriors in her honor. The Queen is dead! Long live the Queen!
Last spring our one hive that survived the winter (out of three 🙁 ) had a weak queen that finally died. I noticed the bees were acting kinda aimless and despondent, not really flying when they should have been really active (I think the technical term for this is “demoralized” in beekeeper-speak), and when we checked there was virtually no brood (in spring, there should be lots of brood). So we called around the local beekeeper mafia and located a queen, who was in that kind of little cage with a sugar plug at one end, and the interesting thing was that , when I put the box down on the top frames, if the other queen had been alive / strong the worker bees would have approached the box rear-end first (to try to sting the interloper to death) but instead they all came in face-first and were very clearly interested and eager to get her out of the box and into the brood chamber. It was a big success and the hive was very strong after that. And her bees were much more mellow than the bees the other queen was making.
But we had a big mite infestation at the very end of fall and I am not sure I treated it in time so we will see whether they make it through to spring. Bees, man! Endlessly fascinating.
“they all came in face-first and were very clearly interested and eager to get her out of the box and into the brood chamber” — IDK why but this made me happy to read. XD THE BEES ARE GONNA GET LAID AGAIN! THEY’RE SO HAPPY!
Well, sadly for the female bees (maybe?) only the queen gets laid, and only (comparatively) few of the drones get in on that action (on her mating flight) and then after that she is relegated to a life of laying eggs and getting fed and laying more eggs–whereas the workers, who AFAIK don’t get laid, get to cycle through all different jobs like nursing, cleaning, collecting pollen, and guarding the hive. I am not sure what the drones do after the mating flight but they must have some use, as the hive does keep raising drone brood. Probably just in case the queen gets hurt / goes bad / they need to make a new queen and swarm, etc. But I like to imagine them waiting for the workers (wearing tiny aprons maybe) and offering them a nice cocktail when they get home at night.
Drones die!
I mean I like your imagining much better than the reality, but that’s what happens. Nature, man.
Well yeah, they all get kicked out to die before winter (misandry!), but active seasons they are certainly in the hive doing drone things, full grown and very much alive.
I read that more as a pun – queen bee gets laid (sex), and lots of other bees get laid (in eggs) – so I really hope that’s what you were going for!
Ahahahaha–yes, EVERYONE gets laid!!! 🙂
This makes me sad I can’t keep mason bees again (am in an apartment now, with no balcony). But anyone out there in Toastland could, if they have a wee bit of yard and some fruit trees/flowers for them!
Play this with Johnny Appleseed in the background. Then do everything subsequent with Global a-Go-Go continuing in the background. Forever.
Oh my neighbors (the nicer recluses in the neighborhood not the ones that are continually investigated by Homeland Security) were rumored to be very big in the Youtube beekeeping community early on. They had a wasp’s nests on their window that they livestreamed. My friends and I constantly spied on it.
Interview! Interview!
For the ultimate in hive-engineering, your dad should check this out. http://www.honeyflow.com/
My former workplace had beehives on its roof, and when an email came round asking if anyone wanted to go up and have a tour of them I responded very enthusiastically (we would have got to put on beekeeper's suits so we could get right up close!). Sadly, it never got scheduled before I left.
My doctor is a beekeeper and has hives on the roof of his office building. Very random hobby but the honey is delicious.
It’s really strange to hear that bumblebees reproduce through live birth.
Thanks for sharing…