MUST MAKE DO

May 9, 2012

I figured if I can't have honeybees right now it doesn't mean I can't have another type of bee.  According to my beekeeping friend Dave  it is a little late in the season to get going with Mason Bees so I'm going to give bumble bees a try.  A while back, after my beekeeping course, my oldest daughter decided she wanted to try keeping bumble bees.  She's always had a fascinating relationship with bumbles.  When she and I took a class at a local nature center 14 years ago we learned the difference between bees, wasps and hornets, which ones are aggressive and which ones aren't, etc... After that time she's always handled bumble bees.  She mostly likes to stroke their backs when they are busy working a flower.  Since she is so brave and had a real interest we ordered Marla Spivak's book: Befriending Bumble Bees.




Maya, my daughter, caught a bunch of bumbles initially but we were unsure in our ability to determine which ones were queens so she'd always let them go.  Well, since I'm bee-less I've decided to give the bumbles another try. With bumbles I won't have to worry about swarm management and worried neighbors, I'll just be able to still enjoy having a relationship with bees.

Now all I need is a bumble bee to show up.  They are late this year.

Wish me luck! :D
SoapSudsations said...

Good luck with the bumblebees! Your daughter is very brave, considering many adults are terrified of bees, let alone kids.

Does this mean if you do get bumblebees, you won't have to worry about them terrifying your neighbours?

Michelle said...

Yes. No more neighbor worries. Bumblebees make a very small next of offspring and they don't swarm.

SoapSudsations said...

But no honey either?

Michelle said...

Unfortunately no :( No honey, no beeswax. That is the drawback. Helping them reproduce and do well is the only benefit with these little insects.

SoapSudsations said...

Hopefully you can use the honeybees to teach your kids' friends more about the benefit of bees.

Teresa Robeson said...

Crossing my fingers for ya that you'll find yourselves the perfect bee pets! :) You are the coolest family, I swear.

As you can tell, I've been playing catch-up because I'm at the library using their high speed internet. Not only has my internet speed been reduced again but my iPhone wasn't working properly either...my Twitter App wouldn't load anything new...I was so frustrated the last couple of days I wanted to hurl some electronics against a wall. :P