The whole fabric of honey bee society depends on communication~
on an innate ability to send and receive messages, to encode and decode information.
~The Honey Bee~
Bees are a sisterhood of workers,devoted to each other and to the work that is so important to them. Bees have a unique kind of communication called the "Waggle Dance" This type of communication is very sophisticated and unique to the Honey Bee.
Sadly something is going on world wide with our bees…they are disappearing and the scientists do not know why. It is becoming increasingly more important to raise bees and help, if even in a small way. Here is a little segment on a tv special that was done recently, explaining the sad situation. Hopefully the Beekeepers and the Scientists can unlock the mystery of CCD (colony collapse disorder)
Ok….so I bet you are wondering where the contest part is?
Leave a comment with your favorite good or bad bee story. If you do not have a bee story, then a simple Buzzzzzzzzzz….will do. The contest prize will be a skein of my new Bambino yarn in Tupelo honey with a Marie Antoinette pattern, a braid of Tupelo Honey angora blend roving and this sweet little Bee pin made by Rachel Badeau .
I will use a random calculator to pick a winner on Halloween (Friday). I am looking forward to hearing from you!
Lastly, for you Manise, my friend, a favorite little bee ditty…. "Community" (send them scurrying…)
The Woolen Rabbit 
I just love bees; always have. When I was a little girl growing up in Hawaii, there was a hollow log right on the edge of the beach (yes, I was incredibly lucky to live 20 yards from the beach) that had a colony of bees. I would fearlessly sit right on top of the log and watch the bees fly in and out. I’ve loved watching bees ever since, and the only time I’ve ever been stung was when I inadvertently stepped on one (poor thing!)
Great contest – I hope I win!
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My dad was a beekeeper all my childhood, and I was fascinated by the beekeeper attire, and the dance of pulling the screens with the honeycomb out, the bees buzzing around his head. I had to stay very far away, as I was a very allergic little girl (still am), but I loved the little bees so much. My mom’s favorite home remedy for cough was dad’s honey and lemon, warmed. (it works!)
Before I was a teenager, the city we lived in passed an ordinance that banned beekeeping in the city limits. My dad sold his hives…a very sad day in our family.
I almost never see the little honeybee in our city anymore. While I say fervent prayers that whatever is collapsing the colonies gets fixed (and quickly!), I can’t help but harbor a (slightly irrational, I’m sure) suspicion that those city ordinances from 30 years ago, might have contributed. If you will something away enough, sometimes, that’s all it takes, you know?
What a delightful contest…thank you!
(((hugs)))
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Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!! When I hear that sound, I start breathing really fast. Absolutely terrified!! Almost jumped out of a moving van going 50 mph once when a bee flew in the window. (I wasn’t driving, thank goodness!)
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I miss bees! I only saw one all summer, and the poor thing was covered with mites and just kept trying to wipe them off.
I love the roving and am looking forward to ordering some to try out SW BFL for socks.
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Kim- I don’t have a story as such, but I do grow flowers that are attractive to bees- they like purple coneflower, and lavender.
We had alot of bees this year.
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bzzz bzzz bzzz that roving looks yummy. While I tend to shy away from anything that buzzes I do have an interesting story. I was visiting my friend and she was showing me her garden and the new veggies that were sprouting up. Anyway as I drooled over her veggies and fruit I thought to myself that it was odd that there weren’t any bees buzzing around I was just about to say “where are the bees” when I looked up in one of her trees was a huge pulsating swarm of bees just resting before heading somewhere else. I raced inside (since I’m a wimp) and she took some amazing photos the next day they continued on their way but it was sure a site to see.
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My DD Kara was afraid of bees. All bees; flying bees, pollenating bees, honey bees, bumble bees, sleeping bees, resting bees, bees walking around, bees trying to get to their home. Until last year or so, when at school, she heard about CCD. She now has a respect for bees, all bees, which is more than what I could have asked for. She’s still a bit skiddish when they fly around her, but she’s not so quick to want the bee squished. (Eew.) Over the years I’ve gathered bee hives and have given them to the local elemtary school for show and tell. These hives did not belong to honey bees, but their construction is just as impressive.
I love the color of your yarn and roving, and I really love your contest- it’s a very creative way to encourage others to be ecologically conscious. 🙂
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My father used to raise bees. One day he was taking a nap in the hammock and a bee stung him right on the tip of his nose! He looked like a combination between Rudolph and Jimmy Durante for a bit!
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wish I had a good bee story, yet sadly, I’m violently allergic… so I will resort to the friendly hmmmmmmm bzzzzzzzzzzz, and tell you that I am so grateful to my garden filled with bees, and the profusion of flowers every year.
what a fun thing you are doing 🙂
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The only bee stories I have are about being stung so not so interesting.
However, it is interesting to note that the name for tugboats and sea rescue boats in French is abeille (bee).
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I don’t think I have a bee story; I can’t recall one, anyway. Maybe that’s a good thing. I will say, that I can’t get the image of the bees in the wall from The Secret Life of Bees out of my head! So, BUZZZZZ!!!!!! Thank you for the contest!
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Over the summer, our house was invaded by wasps, and we’d have to hide in the basement until they went to sleep each night.
One day I came home and my husband said he had some pictures to show me – they were of him petting bumblebees! I thought it was a trick, but he brought me outside and showed me. It was pretty cute – he would pet their backs while they were on flowers, and they’d reach up an arm to sort of push him, but they didn’t fly away or sting. He told me that he used to play with the bees all the time when he was a kid, but he had forgotten about it until the wasp invasion.
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MY favorite Bee story is: my children taught me to PET big fuzzy bees when they were little. They never stung us. The kids wonder of them and beauty overcame their fears about stinging. I tell you, if you have never touched the softness of a big fuzzy bee as it scrambles over our hydrangea bushes in bud, you are missing a tiny bit of heaven.
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I am very allergic to bee and wasp stings (not quite drop-dead allergic, but huge swelling, takes-weeks-to-go-down tons of antihistamines allergic), and every time I get stung it gets worse. This means I have got more scared of them as I have got older (and got stung again). Now I am a teacher, which means I have to be calm and tell the kids not to panic when a bee or wasp flies in the window – even though I want to scream and run. Last year a bee so huge it must have been a hornet (an inch and a half long, no exaggeration) flew in and I paniced and swore under my breath. One of the boys heard me, grinned, and jumped up to catch the monster in a cup and release it. He was only 11 but could see what a panic I was in! I gave him a merit for bee-rescue and he never mentioned my bad language to the rest of the class!
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At one of my previous homes there were these trees that had weeping-type branches that came nearly to the ground. Each Spring when it blossomed, it was swarmed with this mass of bees – hundreds of them. We would stare in awe at this site. It was like a wall of bees that moved and buzzed. It was a very amazing site.
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My favorite bee memory is spinning out and eating fresh dripping wild fireweed honey from my best friend’s hive in Fairbanks, AK – HEAVEN!
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In the summer, while sitting on my back deck we periodically get visited by an insect (not a honey bee but striped like one — probably a yellow jacket which is technically a wasp) that chews off small particles of wood. This activity goes on for hours! I think it is going off to make a nest nearby similar to paper wasps. Hope it’s not in my attic. Yikes!
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I am allergic to bees. But I have no fear of honey bees. They only sting to protect themselves and/or the hive.
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I don’t have any great anecdotes, but I sure do appreciate bees! I’ve been hearing about the bee collapse for some time through the organic ag angle, and it’s great to see that you’re getting the word out.
Speaking of getting the word out, I’m going to post about your contest on WiKnit (http://wiknit.blogspot.com), my knitting contest blog. Thanks for the great contest!
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YES!
I’m glad to see other people notice bees, lol. My father has been a beekeeper pretty much my entire life and though I hate going to the bee yards with him (it’s incredibly scary being in a car and having bees EVERYWHERE), I love getting the fresh honey.
I also went to school at Cornell and they had a couple people there working on CCD. I really hope they figure it out but it’s soo difficult because they are insects, and it looks to actually have multiple causes depending on location. Very sad.
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My father-in-law keeps bees. I love getting raw honey from them. Last summer when we were visiting them my FIL found some worn out drones and showed them to my kids. They had a lot of fun looking at the bees up close but we had to teach them that they could not touch any bee that they found.
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I love these stories! My grandparents used to let beekeepers keep hives on their farm. I am very clumsy, so I got stung a lot! (Not the bees fault, but I’d step on them, or sit on them, or put my hand down on them) It was worth it when we’d get the fresh honey, though!
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Not a story really, just some good news, so I’ll throw in a BZZZZZ. For a long time I would only prune our bottlebrush tree after dusk because all day it would be covered with bees. Then they just seemed to disappear about 5 or 6 years ago. After several years of hardly any bees, we are beginning to see the return of a small number our buzzin cuzzins. Hope it keeps up.
That beautiful honey and clover yarn is a great prize, thanks for having a acontest.
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my dad is highly allergic to bees so we always avoided them. I love honey though…
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Buzzzzzzzz…I just learned that bees have 5 eyes! The Tupelo Honey color is gorgeous!
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Bzzzz, I have watched the Bee movie with my kids eleventy billion times :).
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Let’s see… a few years ago, I was at a retreat, having a not so grand old time. I was a bit bored, and wandered down the hill to sit in on a bellydancing workshop a dear friend was teaching. About a half an hour in to said workshop, a bee flew out of nowhere and stung me… right, smack in the eyelid. I swelled up like Quasimodo, but at least I had an excuse to go home!!!
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My favorie bee story right now is The Secret Life of Bees! I hope to see the movie very soon.
julie
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BZZZ. Wow, where have I been hiding? I knew the bee population was dwindling here in California, I didn’t realize it was worldwide.
I don’t have a bee story, but here’s a pic and story about the time I dressed up as a bee: http://thevikingprincess.blogspot.com/2008/10/costumes.html
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Thanks for spreading the word about how important bees are!
I’ve never been afraid of bees, and never had any problem remaining calm when there was one around. Maybe things would be different if I had been stung, but it fortunately never happened to me. I remember that it happened to my older brother one day when he was far in the field. He had a long way to walk back home and, of course, he had been stung on a leg… he sure seemed to be in a lot of pain when he finally got home.
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My bee story … stepping out the door at the court house after getting our marriage certificate , a bee flew up my skirt and stung me on the leg, at first I wondered what kind of omen it was, but 15 delightfully happy years later I figure it was a good one.
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Hmmm, we raised bee’s when i was little. Would love to raise them again, maybe when we get the new house in a few years! (and the goat and chickens come too!) No big stories aside from being allergic to them! Been stung and visited a few emergency rooms but still love them, especially honey bees! Bzzzz!
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We’re trying very hard to teach our toddler to respect bees since their number is in decline. She loves watching fat bumblebees buzz in and out of sunflowers in the yard. Our chickens, however, jump up to try and eat them!
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I don’t have a bee story, but I love, love, love your yarns! Thanks for keeping us up on the importance of bees.
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Does enjoying the Saturday Night Live BEES count as a bee story? No? Well, our weather on Long Island was so strange a couple of weeks ago that our rhododendron bloomed, and I saw a bee buzzing around the flowers.
Odd, indeed!
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my grandma, a much beloved member of my immediate and extended family, goes by “auntie b” or “auntie bee” (though obviously not to me, as she is not my aunt). she writes on bee stationary and people send her all kinds of bee stuff. it is really quite sweet, though by now i suppose she is smacking herself, since she is probably up to her neck in bee stuff. : )
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Hmmm, I can’t think of any bee stories. I do appreciate bees and have been trying to teach my son about the difference between wasps and bees and how one is pleasant and makes delicious goodies and the other is dreadful. Okay, maybe wasps aren’t dreadful, but I do remember some wicked Yellow Jacket stings when I was a child and I don’t ever want to revisit that memory!
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I love bees because they make honey — and eating local honey has been the best cure for my seasonal allergies. I hope they figure out what’s going on with the bees soon because it’s pretty scary.
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My hubby and I love to watch the bumblebees work our rosemary bush. We made up a little song to sing as well, but I won’t torment you with that.
Gorgeous yarn! 🙂
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I don’t have a story, but I do have some trivia…..
Number of bees equal to the weight of one M&M’s plain chocolate candy
9-10
imagine that.
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When we were young, my sister did a cartwheel on to a bee and was stung in the hand. Of course being the older sister, I laughed (mean person that I am) but she lived to tell about it. I think I have been fortunate to not have been stung because the meaning of my name is Honey Bee. They must know that I am one of them.
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I can’t think of a good bee story to share, so buzzzzzzz…
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I can’t think of a bee story either….only that the bees around here are always very colorful…not your typical yellow and black. Some are almost iridiscent- crazy. So now I’ll just BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ away to finish my coffee 🙂
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Buzzzzzzzzz! I am not in a position to raise bees, but I hope to when we have our own land one day.
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Hmmm.. the only story that comes to mind is the bee references that are in Wicked which I am reading now. In addition to wolves and crows, Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West) also had bees as familiars. In the part of the story I was reading last night, the wolves, crows and bees had all been killed by Dorothy and her companions. I really love reading this book because it is fascinating to me to be able to see a story that I have been so familiar with in such a different light. It shows how important it is to look at things from other viewpoints.
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My only bee story is about the only time I was ever stung. I was about 8 or 10 and very afraid of bees, so when one came buzzing around I panicked. I ran and it followed and I must have flailed at it and then clenched my fists in fear. Well I managed to catch the poor thing in my hand, unknowingly and got stung on a finger.
Thankfully I am no longer afraid of bees and instead have much respect for them. I know that if you leave them alone they’ll leave you alone. I, too, worry about CCD and what could happen. SAVE THE BEES! 🙂
PS- AWESOME prizes! I hope I win!
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I learned at a local beekeepers presentation that some beekeepers mark the queen with a dot of color on her back to make her easier to identify in the hive.
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My daughters and I all love to see bees. While their young friends all scream and run when they see a bee, mine know that bees seldom sting (unlike some wasps around here) and sit and admire their fat, furry bodies for as long as possible.
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I don’t really have a bee story, but I love seeing the bees in my herb garden when the lavender blooms. Thank you for giving away your beautiful yarn and pattern!
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Hmm . . . I’m afraid I don’t have any bee stories, although they do seem to enjoy checking me out at alarmingly close range. No stings for the last few years, happily (for me and for the bees!), but every summer at least a couple decide to hover around my head and orbit me like little yellow moons for a while. What exactly that means, I’m afraid to know. o.O
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