Day #31 Guard Bees

I thoroughly enjoy the meetings of the Gwinnett Beekeepers Club. Tuesday evening I learned that a hive's first line of defense is the Guard Bees. Sounds terrifying, doesn't it? Read on and you'll find out that it's NOT so scary.

When guard bees get alarmed -- say you're approaching their hive too fast--do they sting you? Nope! Remember, if they sting you, they die. So instead, they go through this little routine of head-bumping. That's right. They fly right at you and run into you -- usually on your forehead.

That ought to be enough to warn you off. It sure would make me decide to wait until another time to check the hive. Luckily, I'm not going into this as a business, so if I can't harvest honey one day, I can wait until another day when the bees are calmer and it's no big deal. If I were using the bees as an income-producing work force, I might have to go ahead and open the hive even though I'd been head-bumped a number of times.

After the head-bumping, if the person isn't smart, the guard bees get more serious. Hope I never run into that situation . . .

If you want to check out the Beekeepers Facebook page, here's the link:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=100550333343398

BEEattitude for Day # 31:

       Blessed are those who learn our language, for they shall be sting-free (pretty much).

One thing I’m grateful for right now:

       Geri Taran, who is a bee-buddy of mine.