ouch that hurt

[Headfry]

Hi folks,
posted this on a bee keeping site!
The reply hurt (only posted part of it here, rest is bee stuff)

My post-
Hi kind beekeepers....

How long will it take my girls to draw out a super?
Queen excluder is off, as of Sunday....when should I put it back between, super and

opening line of reply-
Girls? I always thought that they were bees. Just like I thought the queen was a 'queen', and not 'HRH'.

I know I'm a softy but that hurt me lots! silly me I guess, but I am so glad the vine is not like that!
My bees will always be my girls! thats just the way of me

[shirlthegirl43]

Hmm, sounds like the reply was from someone who sees bees as honey and therefore money rather than seeing them as a wonder of nature as you do.

[lynda66]

well you learn something every day, i thought bees were all boys except for the queen? anyway sod them, they probably all have 20 children called no1, no2 etc some people are just too far up their own bums to be human ..... life is for living and having fun, not for being a stuffy old fart

[terrier]

Some people like to be friendly, some don't. Their loss, NOT yours. I bet the Beekeeping site has nice people on it as well!

[Headfry]

Yes, all of the beekeepers I have met thus far have been lovely people and I know I am not the only one who calls them girls-
Must be me having a silly day! Sorry
I will never see my bees as money! for me it is the wonder of the bees that amazes me. We are all in it for different reasons and there is nothing wrong with that. Honey is nice, but my GIRLS come very much first over money every time!

[SlugLobber]

I love bees. Especially the big furry species. I would watch them all day and always go for a look when they have those demo hives at country shows.

Don't take it to heart, Headfry - for some people it's food/money, for others a passion.

Oh and I thought the workers were sexless. You're going to have to educate us, I can tell!!

[Headfry]

Queens = girl 1 per hive
workers = girl 30-50 thousand
drones= boys 2-3 hundred

A virgin queen will leave hive and mate with drones....many drones in fact (the drones congregate at a certain point) the drones that mate with the queen will die.
come the end of the year all drones will be kicked out of hive and die.
The mated Queen will not leave the hive until she swarms maybe as much as a year later.

Queen can lay fertilized eggs - these will hatch as workers or new queen
or un fertilized eggs - these will become Drones (boys)

In the autumn many bees will die, but a small amount of young bees will gather in a ball to keep warm (they do not hibernate) the outer bees will move to the center in rotation- to keep warm, the queen will stay in the midst of this ball.
Bees might come out on a bright warm day in winter, but wont go far. un like
Bumble bees who can and do fly when it is dark and even cold! I have seen them in mid winter before now.

The Queen does not collect food, she just lays eggs, hundreds in a day!
drones do not collect food, just eat and mate.
Workers do just that....they work! build the honeycomb, feed young, clean hive, feed the queen, guard the hive, collect pollen and nectar.

Phew don't I go on....sorry

Does that help a little ?

[Mikey]

I wouldn't worry headfry, they are obviously not buzzy little bods like us, just a load of drones!!

Because of you I cannot think of them as anything but a gaggle of girls hence why they are always making so much noise!!

There is a lovely article in this months Country living about a bee keeper in Scotland, and I promise you they are more than just his livelihood, they are his passion. Good read.

[janeyo]

Well my chickens are always called my girls...neighbours must think I am potty, out there at the crack of dawn 'morning girls have you laid me any nice eggies today'... etc.

So I think you are perfectly right to call them girls (if that's what they are!)

janeyo

[Nicos]

Don't worry Headfry - tis not you at fault!

I go on another ( non-gardening site) and there a a few really stuffy soles on there.
A day doesn't pass without someone being sarcastic about the grammar, punctuation, spelling or even the 'pathetic' contents of the question/response.
It seems to get worse in the evenings when one or two have clearly had a few drinks and get really bolshy with each other....fistycuffs at midnight!...problem is....during the day they are a mine of information and really helpful.

A couple of peeps on here will no doubt know which site I mean!!!

[Mikey]

I used to play indoor bowls, and when the session was near the end and the women were taking over the rinks, one of the old boys used to say here come the mother hens, as they all would be chattering ten to the dozen completely inaudible just like chickens.

[SlugLobber]

Sounds like a couple of horsey forums I know, Nicos!

Thanks Headfry, I feel edumacated, now!

[di]

Thought this may cheer you up a bit Headfry~Daisy's homework a couple of weeks ago(age 6),was all about beekeeping!
Why are bees good for the world?~why do you think they don't make honey in the winter?~What do they take from flowers?why does the beekeeper puff smoke into the hive?
Very basic I know(but she's only 6!)~Thought you'd appreciate they're starting them off early!
I don't know about other sites so trust you they were being mean but also think it's hard sometimes to "know" what tone to take peoples comments~I'm sure I sometimes post something & it's taken totally not as I intended~A sarcastic SOH is sometimes hard to get across on the pooter!

[Mikey]

Yep, I have the lowest common denominator when it comes to humour aswell Andi&di.

[SarzWix]

How mean!! I think it just shows how much more pleasure you get from your girls, Headfry. If they had posted in that tone of voice on this forum, I suspect they'd have been shot down in flames, or very pointedly ignored