Posted by partlycloudy on June 21, 2005, at 7:07:38
In reply to Re: Note to Racer on 2000 board » partlycloudy, posted by NikkiT2 on June 21, 2005, at 6:41:17
Thanks! It's good to be back.
During my ill-fated Book Club faze, that was my first choice of books for the club, and it ended up to be the year's fave.We had all sorts of interesting people in our bee class - from those wanting to learn about bee venom therapy for diseases, to those wanting to start commercial businesses. I only ever did it as a hobby, and found a lovely location in someone's enormous back garden to keep the hives. Her garden flourished while the hives were there. It was so cool! I found that listening to the bees work and feeling the breeze they'd create with their wings was just mesmerising. They really didn't mind us working the frames in the hives, lifting them out, checking for growth, honey, and healthiness. One summer one of the two hives decided to swarm (the natural way that a hive grows and divides, nothing to fear as long as they don't pick your house to live in), and even then, they were as calm as can be, patiently waiting for the signal as to where to go to next.
Now, here in the States it's a lucrative and significant "hobby" as the wild honeybee population has been decimated by mites and diseases. I think in North Carolina they were paying folks to take on hives in order to help pollinate the crops.
And yes, you can keep bees in an urban setting, as long as they have a fresh water supply close by, like a water bucket next to the hive. They find their own food. It's so totally kewl.
partlycloudy
poster:partlycloudy
thread:516470
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20050618/msgs/516482.html