A Sigh of Relief - Honey Bees [Nature on the Farmstead #5]
Finally! Earlier last week I finally I saw my first honey bee out here in the middle of the grasslands this season. I was really getting worried! It's already been well enough into the warm weather for me to be seeing honeybees and I hadn't seen one! I was so thankful to see them hanging out on one of the rose bushes.
Zoom in, take a close look at the tip of her wings. See how they're real tattered? Means she's an older bee and has been working a real long and hard time for her colony. She has literally beat her wings to death in servitude for her fellow sisters. It's no wonder since their wings stroke about 12,000 times per minute and they can fly up to 15 miles an hour!
Did you know?
- Honey bees are the only insect that produce food for humans.
- Honeybees have five eyes, 3 small ones on top of the head and two big ones in front.
- They also have hair on their eyes! (ew)
- The honey bees that are in the USA now, are not native to North America.
- One bee will only make 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey in its entire life.
- Honeybees are the only bees that die after they sting.
- Male honey bees (also called drones), have no stinger and do no work at all. All they do is mate - once. Then they die. However, the males that do survive, are kicked out of the nest by the females before winter or when food becomes scarce.
- Worker bees are ALL female.
This rose bush has been a crazy attractant to bees and wasps of all kinds. I was so pleased to see these honey bees. It gave me a little bit of hope for this summer!
Sources from my brain (I am a part of a local beekeeping club) and:
Photos by me using my iPhone 6s, unless stated otherwise!
Check out my most recent Steemit Posts.
- What will Happen with My Steemit Earnings
- Cardinal Meadowhawk Dragonfly [Nature on the Farmstead #3]
- 200 Followers! A Milestone for a 12 Day Old Steemie
- A Free Resource No Homesteader Should Be Without
- Brewer's Blackbirds aka Crap Nuggets [Nature on the Farmstead #4]
- Meet the Chickens!
- Chicken Coop a la Mode
Blog Series
- Nature on the Farmstead - These posts will be educational and informative about the nature that happens on my farmstead. Look forward to posts about wild animals, birds, wildflowers and plants, insects, and more!
- Just click here to see all my posts in one place!
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Love bees! Unfortunately I can tell there has been a decline in my area.
Maybe I should start beekeeping :)
You should!!!!!! Or, if you don't want to do the work... You could find a local beekeeper that may be willing to put a hive on your property!
I would so love to learn. Thank you for your suggestion and the inspiration you provided as well!
It's surprisingly not too hard. Are you in the US? What state?
Yes, So Cal :)
Check out your local county extension office - they'll have info for you to look into local beekeeping clubs, and look into your California's Master Beekeeper Program!
Oh you are a godsend! Thank you ever so much!🌸🐝
Absolutely no problem!!!
bees are a great subject for Macro photography, resteemed
Thanks!
I saw one today on the Russian Sage, another purple flower. They have been flocking around it lately.
That's something I need to add to my landscape!
Yes, it quite beautiful, and hardy. In winter the snow plow leaves huge piles of snow right on it yet it comes back every summer and attracts pollinators.
I am so glad you are seeing honey bees! I haven't seen any around here this year. I am working to plant some things that will draw them. I just planted Lilacs. I hope it draws them in!
They LOVE lavender! :D Get some of that in there for sure! I am glad you are planting for the bees!
Thanks! Yes it is in my plans! ;)
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Thanks!
@farmstead i have a suggestion idea for a post .
i could do it myself but judging my English it will take decade & not as nice layout.
Royal jelly......
That is definitely an interesting topic all in of itself for sure! I'll write it down! Thanks for the suggestion! I don't know when I will get to it but it's a good one!
Good luck.
I did some research & i was shocked by the statements written on Wikipedia.
I have 1 hand experience selling royal jelly
Improving fertility & with out perusing other methods.
I once saw a documentary from oman , counting endless benefits of royal jelly.
If you ever need help on a post because of your language barrier, please let me know, I will try to help you if I can!
I just put up a post any comments ...
I really do appreciate it...
It's not the language of it self but some how the layout .
Im not a real fan of Facebook & not having other social media accounts so no experience there.
But steemit is something else .
It's just seems like your not wasting your time.
I Will put your offer in mind :-)
In any case, you can let me know if I can help you some how!! Ask me anything, I will answer, try to find the answer, or hopefully point you in the right direction!
I'm off to bed, have a great night!!
Honey bees have 5 eyes and hair on their eyes? OMG! Males are called, drones?" Now I have to keep an eye out for 2 different drones? OMG! Males don't work at all? Figures! Worker bees are all females? Figures! The females kick the males out of their nest? Good for them!
Don't worry, the males have no stingers, and there's only one kind of drone, just the male. They're drones cause they're idiots. They don't even know how to feed themselves. Only used for their... ahem... PARTS. Haha. Workers are workers and they're all females. :D Haha.
Ahhh, but I DO have to look out for 2 kinds of drones...the male bee idiots and the idiot government drones! LOL!
Bahahahaa Welllll I guess you're right then!
I haven't been seeing many bees at all this year. We had a ton of them, probably not honey bees, when the plum trees were blooming, but when those blooms were done, everything disappeared except a few bumblebees that stayed around. Now that the white clover is blooming, I'm seeing more bees of all different kinds. We have several different sizes of bumblebees, mason bees, and some honeybees. It seems that none of them want to go inside my greenhouse and pollinate my tomato plants though. I have to do that myself.
Feels a little naughty doesn't it? Hahahaha.
Yes. bees have a hard time navigating into a greenhouse, would have to have a LOT of openness for them to be willing to go in there, I imagine.
I wonder what they were! I think this year is just a crazy year, I keep hearing the same thing from a lot of different people in different locations - that they haven't seen many.
I love how many bees there are. I would have never known until I did research into bees!
Check this out!
https://steemit.com/colorchallenge/@whatisnew/breaking-news-purple-plants-mystery-solved
I commented on your intro post, did you get it?
Yes, I just read it. Thanks so much for the invitation and I am very interested. It is 2:30 AM here and I can barely stay awake so I will have to get back to you tomorrow. Thanks again and I will talk to you then. Good night friend! :)
Cool! Had to make sure! I didn't know if Steemit notified people of comments on old posts. Hahaha anything can happen here! Sleep well!
Really honey bee's have 5 eyes, I did not know that. Thank you , always learning here on Steemit. As always you post great stuff. I saw a honey bee today too.
Yeah! I was surprised to learn that also!! Thank you and thanks for stopping by!