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...)
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!
Posted by: Michelle | Wednesday, October 29, 2008 at 05:04 PM
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.
Posted by: Awesome Mom | Wednesday, October 29, 2008 at 05:03 PM
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.
Posted by: Bronwyn | Wednesday, October 29, 2008 at 04:52 PM
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!
Posted by: Hanna | Wednesday, October 29, 2008 at 04:35 PM
I am allergic to bees. But I have no fear of honey bees. They only sting to protect themselves and/or the hive.
Posted by: Lee Cockrum | Wednesday, October 29, 2008 at 04:25 PM
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!
Posted by: Robin | Wednesday, October 29, 2008 at 02:27 PM
My favorite bee memory is spinning out and eating fresh dripping wild fireweed honey from my best friend's hive in Fairbanks, AK - HEAVEN!
Posted by: Pat | Wednesday, October 29, 2008 at 01:35 PM
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.
Posted by: Kate/Massachusetts | Wednesday, October 29, 2008 at 11:36 AM
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!
Posted by: Lucy Hague | Wednesday, October 29, 2008 at 09:55 AM
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.
Posted by: kathy b | Wednesday, October 29, 2008 at 09:44 AM
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.
Posted by: Aimee | Wednesday, October 29, 2008 at 09:41 AM
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!
Posted by: Debbie | Wednesday, October 29, 2008 at 08:07 AM
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).
Posted by: danielle | Wednesday, October 29, 2008 at 04:37 AM
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 :-)
Posted by: Teyani | Wednesday, October 29, 2008 at 02:23 AM
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!
Posted by: Robin | Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 10:42 PM
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. :)
Posted by: Lisa McGuire | Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 07:42 PM
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.
Posted by: Megan | Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 07:03 PM
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.
Posted by: Lorraine | Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 06:55 PM
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.
Posted by: Ginny | Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 06:10 PM
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!)
Posted by: Peggy | Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 05:47 PM
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)))
Posted by: Knitnana | Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 03:35 PM
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!
Posted by: Rachel | Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 02:27 PM
Good Bee Story: "I've never been stung by a bee" :-) Only once by a wasp (and that was in England, our wasps are a lot smaller than the ones over here!). I've read The Secret Lives of Bees and want to see the movie that is coming out soon. That is rather sad that they are disappearing.
Love the yarn btw - hope I'm lucky!
denise@deniseschulz.com
Posted by: Denise | Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 02:20 PM
I appreciate the efforts and labors of bees.. i just don't like that they sting. My story? I'm a huge klutz, if my continuously reinjuring my poor ankle hasn't tipped anyone off to that, this confession will. One day, back in third grade, I was late for school. Very late. it was late november. I clearly remembering being bundled up in my ugly blue ski jacket (no not still bitter that it was ugly blue and not the pretty pink my friend had) wearing mittens and a hat. Since I was very late, i was also running. Being a klutz, running is v. bad. Well, running ended up the way it usually did, with my tripping over something (could have been uneven pavement or just a shadow on the sidewalk) and landing on all fours. Beyond skinning my knees, my hand found the last living bee of the year with the stinger in my thumb. Hated the buggers since.
Posted by: Risa | Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 01:55 PM
Bzzzzzzzzzz. No bee story, per se, but we DO have a hive in a tree on our property! We WANT to be beekeepers, along with chicken keepers, and sheep keepers, and...you get the picture!
Posted by: Cynthia | Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 01:31 PM
No bee story, but a bee poem:
To make a prairie
it takes one flower
and one bee
and reverie.
The reverie alone will do
If bees are few.
But you need more than one bee to make honey, so I too hope someone finds the answer! And finds a cure for whitenose syndrome too.
Bzzzzzz!
Posted by: Lucia | Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 01:11 PM
Did you know that on cold spring/fall mornings, you can pet bumblebees? They often sleep on outdoor plants and if you go outside before the sun has warmed them, you can pet them. They are incredibly soft! When my son was three, we did this one morning and it's one of my favorite memories. I hope he remembers it too. :o)
Posted by: elizabeth | Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 12:36 PM
Each year we host a "swarm" in one of our old apple trees. We are honored! We call the beekeepers and they arrive with their smoke and their carrying 'hive" and a cooler of home brewed beer (for the celebration that follows a safe transport!)They teach us how to handle the bees and how to maintain a calm demeanor and it is all so satisfying! Would you like some pics?! I love your yarns and your blog and I wish that we could have met in Rhinebeck!
best, Jody
Posted by: Jody | Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 12:34 PM
No bee story here but I love your honey bee stole.BZZZZZZZZZZ
Posted by: Christine | Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 11:42 AM
I don't have any bee stories. I was stung exactly once - just enough to know I'm not allergic.
Posted by: Kate | Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 11:16 AM
Fond memories of Australian native bees.... I grew up on a farm in South Australia. A beekeeper kept his bees in our paddocks (fields). As a payment to us, he would give us some huge barrels of honey and some honeycomb. The River Redgum honey was nice (from bees near the river on our land), and so was the sweet "Salvation Jane" honey (made by bees who loved the weeds called salvation jane).
Love your yarns too!!
Colleen
Posted by: colleen | Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 10:21 AM
Buzzzzzzzzzz I love the roving!!!
Posted by: Rosemary | Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 10:10 AM
My favorite memory of bees is while my family (5 kids ages 1-7...at that time and my husband)were exploring on the island of Crete...It was raining and we came around a corner on a twisty, tiny road in the mountains...there was a beekeeper, in full garb, calmly working with his hives...blooming thyme all around the hives and the smell was amazing. We sat at the side of the road and watched for about 15 min. Even the kids were still. It was just the most peaceful thing in the world to watch those few stolen moments. I don't think the beekeeper even knew that we were there.
Posted by: Rebecca | Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 09:44 AM
Alas, no bee story, but I do love bees, particularly bumblebees and honeybees. Without them we would have no more flowers, fruit, or veggies. I really enjoyed The Secret Life of Bees, too. That Tupelo Honey color is just gorgeous!
Posted by: Nan | Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 09:37 AM
no exciting story but I do get to see a fair number of dogs with bee stings!
Posted by: Steph | Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 09:31 AM
We used to live next door to a bee keeper. It was fun to buy honey from him, knowing the bees had probably visited the flowers in our yard.
Posted by: Wool Winder | Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 09:28 AM
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ, no exciting bee story except the one I sent you regarding the escape of all those bees from the truck in New Brunswick. The rescue was incredible and it was wonderful most were saved.
Posted by: Susanne | Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 09:10 AM
Think bees are beautiful, but really can't have them sting me anymore!!
The best time was a number of years ago while living in PA, we were ripping out some rotted lumber that had been used to terrace the yard in the back and they were loaded with bees. I ended up getting stung on the ear! Could have passed for a boxer, and had to be in NYC for work the next day!! Creative scarf work saved the day!!!
Do still love the honey in my tea!
Posted by: Gina | Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 08:24 AM
Not really a story, but I find it interesting how some people (like my DH) are horrifically allergic to the stings, and some people (like me) barely get a welt. When I was a kid I stepped on a group of bees accidentally and my grandparents were worried we were going to the hospital, but I just had a little puffiness on the bottom of my foot which was gone after about an hour with some ice.
Posted by: Anne | Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 08:07 AM
My neighbor down the street raised bees for several years. He had CCD, got more bees, then had it again, and moved soon after that to NH. Ever since? Some bees must have escaped CCD because they are out there pollinating my garden every year, when previously, I had no honeybees for years.
Posted by: Laurie | Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 07:19 AM
I LOVE the roving!
Posted by: BZZZZZZ | Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 07:15 AM
This summer I stayed in France at a friend's family. They live in a lovely place, quite and green. One Saturday afternoon I decided to work out a little bit in the pool, which was a deathtrap to many insects. But it didn't bother me much, and after I came out, took a shower and went to read a little bit in my room. I kept hearing "bzz-bzz", and thought there was a fly trapped in the room. Only later, when I took out my hair pin, did I understand that the bzzing was coming out of my hair. I got completely hysterical and ran to the bathroom, trying to remove whatever it was from my hair, which is quite thick and literally "a home for the buzzing bees", as the Hair musical song goes. Eventually I managed to remove the poor bee, who unfortunately didn't survive. I felt so bad. It must have been drowning and caught in my hair, and my panicky response didn't help it either.
Posted by: CrazyVet | Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 03:34 AM
Two of my favorite books have bees in them:
The Secret Life of Bees and The Beekeeper's Apprentice.
Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!
Posted by: Carol | Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 12:59 AM
Bzzzzzzzz. Still remember the summer I was walking in the forest, barefoot of all things, with an apple and managed to step on a yellow jacket nest. They chased me almost a quarter mile and got me quite a few times. Hoping to get honeybee hives some day though as I hear beekeeping is calming....as is knitting. Love this colorway.
Posted by: Mary | Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 12:48 AM
Buzzzzzz!
Posted by: Shirls | Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 12:35 AM
Oh, I have one about a wasp or yellow jacket who flew off with a big slice of roasted turkey as we were sitting down outside to eat one summer evening. We all could not believe our eyes as we watched this little flying insect pick up a turkey slice and carry it away!! I absolutely love your Tupelo colorway!
Posted by: Holly | Monday, October 27, 2008 at 11:34 PM
I love beezzzzzzzzz! Bumbles are my favorites! I have only been stung a few times in my lifetime. My sister as a child was not so lucky. She kept trying to touch them on my mother's lavender bushes. And always looked so surprised that she was stung followed by wailing. Sort of like it hurt her last feeling in the world. My older dog's face swells up with bee stings. Benadryl usually helps.
Thank you for the link to the Bee Song! Now off to play it and watch my family scurry like roaches out of the room-hehe- so I can watch your You Tube clip in peace!
Posted by: Manise | Monday, October 27, 2008 at 11:17 PM
Bzzzzzzz! The very first book I ever listened to was "The Secret Lives of Bees." One of the best by far and of course now I'm hooked to listening and knitting at the same time.
Posted by: Madame Purl | Monday, October 27, 2008 at 11:17 PM
i love bees, but they do not love me!
i'm allergic :-(
Posted by: vanessa | Monday, October 27, 2008 at 11:00 PM
No bee story but I do have one with yellow jackets. I was about three, so it clearly left an impression on me. My mom and her friend were sitting on the front porch chatting. I went over and sat down on a chair next to them. Next thing I knew, my mom was yelling at me and grabbed my wrist and pulled my up and out of the chair. She opened the door, shoved me in, yelled for my dad and slammed the door again. It turned out that no-one had sat in that chair for a while and a nest of yellow jackets moved in. Me sitting down started them swarming. My mom got me out so fast I didn't get a sting at all. I remember watching my mom with the broom sweeping them off my dad as he dealt with them.
Posted by: Tempe | Monday, October 27, 2008 at 10:36 PM