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Tag Archives: bees

How Sweet It Is. Thank the Bee’s!

American Press Travel News–June 6th, Crossville, TN.-Bees; Oh How Sweet It Is!  When a wall in my “Man Cave”, writers cabin at the farm began vibrating and humming, I knew something strange and major was up.  I felt that it wasn’t a paranormal happening, so I stepped out back behind the cabin. I stood and watched (from a distance) honey bees flying to and from a small crack in my wood wall.  I looked up a professional Apiarist, and found Jeff Dayton from Rainbow Gold Apiary who promised to visit, assess exactly where he needed to open our interior wall to vacuum up the bees along with his 22-year old son, Tyler, after first finding the Queen.  They live-caught more than 50,000 bees with a painless vacuum (five pounds) and later transferred the Queen to a new hive box on his property to happily reunite the little fantastic critters with their leader. When the wall was opened, there was no honey left in the wax combs, as it was all eaten by the bees over the winter. They were getting ready to swarm again so in the coolness of early April, and without anyone getting stung, he successfully captured and relocated them to his bee field. My cabin was also not dripping with natures golden delight, and all I had to do was lots of cleaning, and redo the wall-case closed after closing up that outside crack.

Jeff has been at his bee business for the past 25-years, and now has 60-managed hives. He relocated about 10-outside hive colonies this year alone.  Jeff said about 80-percent of hundreds of colonies this past winter were lost in Tennessee.  Parasites like Varroa mites,  tracheal mites, poor bee nutrition , pesticides, and colony collapse disorder  were all known causes of bee losses. Dayton remarked that: “we all got to eat and everyone needs bee-power. Bees create our foods.”

Bees are fiercely protective of their Queen and their hive. Each of the hundreds of hexagonal wax pupae cells in the honey comb is constantly being attended to by worker bees.

In a way, Bees can be compared to the Trojan warriors of history. They take no prisoners and are inherently endowed against all odds, to fight till their death to protect their home and family. To me thinking about what Jeff Dayton told me about the number of bees it takes to make up 5-pounds, that takes 50,000 individuals was incredible. These bees alone (amongst other myriads of insects, and birds too, not to mention the other bee-billions around the world) assist in propagating thousands of fruit trees, vegetables, flowers, bushes and sundry field crops, fruits such as strawberries, blueberries, orchard cherry trees, peach, pear, apple, etc. The world would be a dead place if not for bees.

Jeff said that when he was a youngster he and his dad would raid old bee trees. They would “course” the bees flying to and fro, and follow their angles of flight. “We would triangulate where the hives were. I sure miss my dad, he got me into the Apiary profession, and I am what I am today due to his nurturing and teaching.” Jeff has passed his passion for the little liquid gold -makers in several ways. Besides teaching his son Tyler, he is a fixture at most outdoor special events.  This “sweet” guy teaches all who have interest, about the life of the bees and special nature they possess. He sets up a window case where people can watch the bees going about their daily lives supplying honey for their hives. Rainbow Gold Apiaries can be reached at (931) 484-9430. He can offer all hive products, offer his bees for pollination and does bee removal from anyone who needs this service at no charge!

 

“A BOOK IS NEW UNTIL YOU READ IT!” READ THE FLYING FISH AND THE BEE’S BOOKS!

tHEY BOTH FLY. ONE GLIDES AND ONE HELICOPTERS! EACH AMAZING IN THEIR OWN RIGHT!
THEY BOTH FLY. ONE GLIDES AND ONE HELICOPTERS! EACH AMAZING IN THEIR OWN RIGHT!

APtravelnews-Book Reviews—November 20th, Port St Lucie, FL.—From Correspondent Bob Epstein, Book Reviews—When I received the following two books from the Princeton University Press, Princeton and Oxford, I knew just from the cover on in, they would make fine educational and enjoyable reads!

“The Amazing World of Flyingfish”  by Steve N.G. Howell  was an edifying and exciting read.  Having an extensive knowledge of offshore fishing myself, and always amazed when a school of flyingfish took off spooked by my moving boat, or by predators such as billfish, dolphin fish and raiding tuna, this fine, 45-page book describes in photography and true researched words of knowledge, by someone even more detailed and excited by these marvels of nature, only enhanced my enthusiasm more when before reading this book, the little bit I did know, blended with my new education of just how incredible these small fish are. In all the oceans, seas and waterways of the world, only Exocoetus volitans named by Carolus Linnaeus in 1758, truly fly, well actually glide, and truly zoom over the waves and ocean swells to escape from being eaten.

Early Mediterranean sailors actually thought that “Exocoetus” meaning; “sleeping outside” in Greek, from the belief that these flyingfish left the oceans to sleep on shore at night. The amazing facts about these fish are embodied in this “little big book of knowledge” about them, and the fascination they have been for airplane designers, to cooks in Barbados that serve them up as the specialty of the Island Nation.  There are 90 images, all interesting in their depictions of this, and a few other images of amazing sea creatures.

PAGES OF INFORMATION AND 90 GREAT IMAGES!
PAGES OF INFORMATION AND 90 GREAT IMAGES!

The book sells for $12.95 Check it out @: press.princeton.edu  or Google the name: “The Amazing World of Flyingfish.

 

TO BE OR NOT TO BE! THEY ARE IN TROUBLE, RESPECT THE WORLDS BEE'S!
TO BE OR NOT TO BE! THEY ARE IN TROUBLE, RESPECT THE WORLDS BEE’S!

The second book is about The Bee; A Natural History by Noah Wilson-Rich. “To be or not to be, that is the question”  and when Shakespeare penned that question in centuries past, I know he did not have the honey bee in mind, but today because of the terrific threat to the Bee’s existence all over the world, this eminently important insect, that gives you the very fruits of the vine and tree, (BIBLICAL: “THE LAND OF MILK & HONEY”), the flowers of the field and forest and so much more is in great danger of disappearing altogether.

“Earth is home to 20,000 bee species, ranging from flourescent-colored orchid bees and sweat bees, to flower-nesting squash bees and leaf-cutter bees. This book is the most accessible source of information about bee species, written for non-scientists by some of the world’s leading bee experts and researchers. Beautiful art- work compliments and clarifies the text, which is kept brief enough to cover as much information as possible, while keeping general readers engaged. If you eat food (ha) you need to know about bees. This little critter pollinates fruit, veggies and seed crops that we humans need and rely on to survive. Bees are dying at an alarming rate. Understanding the complex interactions between bees and agriculture, environment, and humans influences how we address food supply questions, agricultural economics, and development in the U.S. and elsewhere in the world!” Just remember too, no bees, no flowers! The book has 224 pages, in hardcover it is 8 x 9, and costs $27.95. Check out Google  with The Bee A Natural History by Noah Wilson-Rich, with contributions from Kelly Allin, Norman Carreck & Andrea Quigley.