Worldwide Beekeeping

Beekeeping => General Beekeeping => Topic started by: riverbee on January 28, 2014, 04:56:33 pm

Title: Beekeepers Are...........?
Post by: riverbee on January 28, 2014, 04:56:33 pm
what is a beekeeper? 

who are you as a beekeeper?, and how would you 'define' it for yourself?

Beekeepers are............?

you finish......your description, and yes winter boredom and being couped up and 'locked down' from the polar vortex we are in has long past set in........i need more good and enlightening reading material...... :D   
i am looking forward to reading some great replies! and ps, looking up the definition of "beekeeper" and posting it here is not going to fly..... :D

so......Beekeepers are.................
Title: Re: Beekeepers Are...........?
Post by: iddee on January 28, 2014, 05:00:49 pm
Men and women, boys and girls, and winnie the pooh.  :P :laugh: :laugh:
Title: Re: Beekeepers Are...........?
Post by: Jen on January 28, 2014, 06:34:10 pm
Awe Iddee that's cuuuute, geeeez.

I will probably donate more than one answer.

My friend said this to me after I got a hive of bees and rescued a sweet brown bat "Jen! I think you like taking care of little tiny things!" I would call my beekeeping interest as Huge Compassion ~
Title: Re: Beekeepers Are...........?
Post by: Woody Roberts on January 28, 2014, 06:45:53 pm
Different from normal folks! I've been called strange but I prefer different.
Title: Re: Beekeepers Are...........?
Post by: Jen on January 28, 2014, 06:52:13 pm
Woody- That's so funny! When hubby came home and found a beehive in our backyard three years ago, his eyebrows came together and he said "Honey! Don't you know that beekeepers are Weird!" I answered back "You mean More weird than I already am?"  :laugh:
Title: Re: Beekeepers Are...........?
Post by: Perry on January 28, 2014, 08:03:28 pm
"It's said that for bees, the flower is the fountain of life, and for flowers bees are the messengers of love"

I like to think that I'm caring for the messengers of love!  ;)
Title: Re: Beekeepers Are...........?
Post by: Jen on January 28, 2014, 08:27:20 pm
Perry- I think that reply deserves a wolf whistle  :D
Title: Re: Beekeepers Are...........?
Post by: Marbees on January 28, 2014, 09:08:08 pm
Different from normal folks!

Woody is being nice to us  :D

a beekeeper is a smart man who found a way to be surrounded by beautiful ladies all the time, and still stays married  ;)
Title: Re: Beekeepers Are...........?
Post by: Jen on January 28, 2014, 09:29:45 pm
Marbees-

""Woody is being nice to us 

a beekeeper is a smart man who found a way to be surrounded by beautiful ladies all the time, and still stays married""

Okay Marbees- What about us female beekeepers Hu?   
Title: Re: Beekeepers Are...........?
Post by: Marbees on January 28, 2014, 09:44:04 pm
Jen

Okay Marbees- What about us female beekeepers Hu?

I don't know :D :D Every beek should have his/her own definition   :D
That's what rb asked
Title: Re: Beekeepers Are...........?
Post by: Jen on January 28, 2014, 10:21:00 pm
Marbees- Okay then, I'll just have to counter with this beings I'm a woman of the 60's:

Beekeeping is about the example of independant women being surround by other hard working women, and men that lay around the house with the remote, that can't even feed themselves so they get kicked out at the end of the season. And That's The Rest Of The Story  :D 8)

Title: Re: Beekeepers Are...........?
Post by: Waverlybees on January 28, 2014, 10:57:29 pm
Don't let my wife read that statement Jen. She will swear you were talking about me. She hasn't tried to kick me out yet, so don't give her any ideas!!  :laugh:  :laugh:

Dan
Title: Re: Beekeepers Are...........?
Post by: Jen on January 28, 2014, 11:23:22 pm
 :D And I haven't kicked my drone out either Dan. 38 years. He does know how to feed himself  :D
Title: Re: Beekeepers Are...........?
Post by: LazyBkpr on January 28, 2014, 11:33:12 pm
wellll... my wife HATES seeing me idle..   so when she pulls in, if I am here, I JUMP UP and find something to do..   I already have EVERYTHING DONE, but it doesnt matter,, if I am not "DOING" when she walks in she is not happy.. so as she walks through the door I am drying my hands, having finished the dishes, I say.. OK, NOW i can make a drink, would you like one?
   Usually works!!
   In case plan A doesnt work...  I always "forget" something..   I swept the floor, picked up ALL the piles... except ONE that is in PLAIN sight..
   Now.. this may seem obvious to some, but others will be scratching their head wondering why I might do that...
   The answer is simple. she sees the pile, frowns at it, asks me if I plan to pick that up.. I say.. Oh cr@p, forgot that one, I pick it up, she is happy, and she doenst need to FIND anything to rag at me about, she already found it, I fixed it, NOW life can be good and we can sit together and have that drink!!
   heh, pretty good thinking aye?  Now, how many of you are going...   AHA!!!  I'm gonna try that!


   Beekeepers are............
   People that enjoy a challenge. People that like being outside when its WARM. People that enjoy standing in the midst of thousands of stinging insects, while friends, family, or onlookers stand WAY back and go...   omg hes CRAZY!!
   Beekeepers are;
   People who enjoy and thrive
   on the happy hum of a healthy hive.
   Inner peace is gained through the drive
    To see in the spring, their bees still alive
  so mix that drink, set up that chair, and CHIVE!!!!

   Meh.. well it was a worthy effort
Title: Re: Beekeepers Are...........?
Post by: Jen on January 29, 2014, 12:40:59 am
OH MY GAWD! I THINK I MARRIED THE WRONG MAN!!!

kidding  :laugh:

Actually I think that's more of the response that RB was looking for. Nice Lazy!
Title: Re: Beekeepers Are...........?
Post by: Jen on January 29, 2014, 12:51:02 am
While resting near the hive
gentle rustle of the trees
calm becomes me
from the whisper of the bees
Title: Re: Beekeepers Are...........?
Post by: LazyBkpr on January 29, 2014, 08:58:49 am
OH MY GAWD! I THINK I MARRIED THE WRONG MAN!!!

   LOL!! Thats MY line, I have legal rights to it!!  To be used only when a woman shows off her Harley, boat,( Or boat motor), rifle, Hot rod, fishing pole or bee hive!!
Title: Re: Beekeepers Are...........?
Post by: Jen on January 29, 2014, 12:19:31 pm
Hhahhaahhaha! Gotcha didn't I? Have a good day Lazy!
Title: Re: Beekeepers Are...........?
Post by: denise1952 on January 29, 2014, 04:13:37 pm
a female beekeeper is very gentle and caring and looks after her not like my husband a bull in a china shop :laugh: :laugh:
Title: Re: Beekeepers Are...........?
Post by: riverbee on January 29, 2014, 06:01:49 pm
thanks denise!
okay perry whatever.....messenger of love....you probably are  :D
enjoyed the replies here, some funny stuff. its what makes the forum. a topic like this and having some fun and at the same time learning how others think or see themselves!  we are much more than 'beekeepers'.....think about it.....uh....never mind don't think too hard.... :D

here's my contribution:
what is a beekeeper?.........
an entomologist, scientist, carpenter,woodworker, painter, horticulturist/gardener, farmer, educator, teacher, mentor and student; and most of all a bee hoarder?  :D
and unfortunately for me allergic to them.
wife, mother, daughter, sister, grandmother, and a veterinarian of sorts for all the critters/birds tame and wild sent my way.
oh, and i like to go fishing every once in awhile.

i saved a bee culture article from a few years back:

"Marbles, Mistakes & Hive Lifters
Several years ago, a beekeeper friend of mine would tell beginning beekeepers to go out and buy a large bag of marbles.
"Pour the marbles into a pants pocket of your bee suit.  When you go to the apiary and make a mistake such as letting the smoker go out, losing your hive tool, forgetting your veil or dropping a frame, simply reach into your pocket and grab a marble and throw it away.  Do not try to mark the spot where the marble lands.  Eventually there will be a time when you reach into your pocket and find that it is empty.  One might say that when you have lost all your marbles, you have become a beekeeper."


the mentioned mistakes are mild compared to some of my bee adventures...how many bags of marbles are you all on??..... :D

about riverbee; how did i choose that name?  for any that haven't figured it out....my two passions in life: RIVERS and BEES.  :D   i don't consider these hobbies , they really are passions in my life that i pursue. 

ABOUT BEES:
What is this dark hum among the roses?
I have found them-haven’t you?---
Stopped in the very cups of the flowers, their wings
a little tattered-so much flying about, to the hive,
then out into the world, then back, and perhaps dancing,
should the task be to be a scout-sweet, dancing bee.
I think there isn’t anything in this world I don’t admire.
bend close to study and
understand what is happening.  It’s not hard, it’s in fact
As instructive as anything I have ever studied.  Plus, too,
it’s love almost too fierce to endure, the bee
nuzzling like that into the blouse
of the rose.  And the fragrance, and the honey, and of course
the sun,  the purely pure sun, shining, all the while, over
all of us.”

---Mary Oliver

ABOUT RIVERS:
"It is those we live with and love and should know who elude us……now, nearly all those I loved and did not understand when I was young are gone, but I still reach out to them.
 
...Then in the arctic half-light of the canyon, all existence fades to a being with my soul and memories and the sounds of the big Blackfoot river and a four-count rhythm and the hope that a fish will rise.

Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it.  The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time.  On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops.  Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs.
I am haunted by waters."

---Norman MacLean “A River Runs Through It”
Title: Re: Beekeepers Are...........?
Post by: tecumseh on January 29, 2014, 06:45:39 pm
I will give you a couple neither of which is original by me..

from one commercial beekeeper for whom I have worked.
"bee keepers are prickley"

from John Conner (loosely stated)...
beekeepers are very social people who really have no problem in working alone.  < I get the idea here that most beekeepers are quite relaxed at working on the fringes of modern civilization and certainly the quietness and vista of at least some apiary locations loom large as benefits.

Title: Re: Beekeepers Are...........?
Post by: Jen on January 29, 2014, 07:37:37 pm
riverbee "It’s love almost too fierce to endure, the bee
nuzzling like that into the blouse
of the rose.

Now that's just pure magic right there!
Title: Re: Beekeepers Are...........?
Post by: riverbee on January 29, 2014, 08:23:11 pm
tecumseh~
"beekeepers are very social people who really have no problem in working alone.  < I get the idea here that most beekeepers are quite relaxed at working on the fringes of modern civilization and certainly the quietness and vista of at least some apiary locations loom large as benefits."

yes, quite true for me

jen~
"It’s love almost too fierce to endure, the bee
nuzzling like that into the blouse
of the rose.

Now that's just pure magic right there!

jen, to me it is magic....!
Title: Re: Beekeepers Are...........?
Post by: Jen on January 29, 2014, 09:19:27 pm
riv- I love how when i'm sitting shoulder to shoulder with the hive each morning, and the bees land on my arm and groom themselves. Just Love That


Title: Re: Beekeepers Are...........?
Post by: riverbee on January 29, 2014, 09:38:25 pm
me too jen, and i enjoy teaching my friends and familiy, neighbors, etc.... not to be afraid of honey bees, to observe, and let them land on their hands, arms.....etc. and not SWAT and FLAIL.... :D .  the ones that relax and listen to me, are quite mystified by them. (amazed they are not stung i guess).

i enjoy seeing honey bees when walking through our fields working the different nectar/pollen sources, or while fishing or working, and they land on me, even with the allergy. i am not afraid anymore, (i was in the beginning), maybe i should be?  but it certainly does give me a sense of joy, knowing that these are my bees.  it wouldn't matter, i guess, because no matter where i am and see a honey bee, i have to stop and watch them.
Title: Re: Beekeepers Are...........?
Post by: Jen on January 29, 2014, 10:12:16 pm
It is in my native american blood that when another creature is near you, or lands on you, that it's telling you that 'we creatures know your plight and know that you are vulnerable, and that it's going to be okay.' I believe in the spiritual world of animals and creatures.
Title: Re: Beekeepers Are...........?
Post by: pistolpete on January 29, 2014, 11:42:34 pm
Statistically:   most bee keepers are 50+ white males. 
Intelectually: most bee keepers are risk tolerant explorers. Most bee keepers poked sticks in ant hills when they were kids.
Emotionally:  most bee keepers are introverted romantics
Title: Re: Beekeepers Are...........?
Post by: Jen on January 30, 2014, 01:46:00 am
P- And where did you get these statistics?

Yeeeah, I think I need to call it a night ~
Title: Re: Beekeepers Are...........?
Post by: G3farms on January 30, 2014, 04:14:19 am
A helping hand to the box of bugs that can can reward with the nectar of the Gods.

A life's passion to keep them alive and working, for the bounty is great! (in more ways than one)
Title: Re: Beekeepers Are...........?
Post by: riverbee on January 30, 2014, 10:25:31 am
"Statistically:   most bee keepers are 50+ white males. 
Intelectually: most bee keepers are risk tolerant explorers. Most bee keepers poked sticks in ant hills when they were kids.
Emotionally:  most bee keepers are introverted romantics"

now that is some interesting info there pete! i did poke sticks in ant hills, and used firecrackers too..... :D
Title: Re: Beekeepers Are...........?
Post by: DMLinton on January 30, 2014, 10:30:53 am
Statistically:   most bee keepers are 50+ white males. 
Intelectually: most bee keepers are risk tolerant explorers. Most bee keepers poked sticks in ant hills when they were kids.
Emotionally:  most bee keepers are introverted romantics

Wow, that seems to be more accurate than many might want to admit!
Title: Re: Beekeepers Are...........?
Post by: efmesch on January 30, 2014, 02:30:29 pm
Beekeepers are: infinitely patient----or
                              learning how to be infinitely patient.
Title: Re: Beekeepers Are...........?
Post by: Crofter on January 30, 2014, 07:36:24 pm
EF, I'd guess that you have been observing them for a longer period of time than I have. I hadn't really noticed the progression,  :laugh: :laugh:

I tried to think of how beekeepers could be described in one word and haven't come up with it yet.
Title: Re: Beekeepers Are...........?
Post by: riverbee on January 30, 2014, 07:45:02 pm
okay frank, you have until tomorrow at high noon to come up with a description.....otherwise....... :D

ef~
" learning how to be infinitely patient."
ef, i have been learning how to be infinitely patient all my life......and still working on it.......infinitely....... :D
Title: Re: Beekeepers Are...........?
Post by: iddee on January 30, 2014, 08:49:00 pm
Crofter, think Pecans, cashews, Brazil, ETC.
Title: Re: Beekeepers Are...........?
Post by: riverbee on January 30, 2014, 08:57:23 pm
"Crofter, think Pecans, cashews, Brazil, ETC."

....... :D

high noon tomorrow....... :D
Title: Re: Beekeepers Are...........?
Post by: Jen on January 30, 2014, 10:34:44 pm
Walnuts! Takes a hammer to knock any sense into me ~ HA!
Title: Re: Beekeepers Are...........?
Post by: iddee on January 30, 2014, 10:46:30 pm
Drop the w and make it a double L and you may have something.
Title: Re: Beekeepers Are...........?
Post by: Jen on January 31, 2014, 12:09:50 am
Walnuts - A woman with a tough shell who's just a little nuts

Scary combination!

And that was before I was a beekeeper!   ;) 8)
Title: Re: Beekeepers Are...........?
Post by: lazy shooter on January 31, 2014, 08:35:19 am
My take-away's on this thead:

Oh my God, this thread brought out the mushy romantics.  That's not a bad thing.  "infinitive patience"  That is a lot of patience. 

"A child of the sixties."  I doubt that.

RiverBee should be every child's grandmother. 

Tecumseh is a child of the sixties.

The other lazy is a hopeless romantic and a fun person.

Iddee has a great sense of humor.  That's special for a Viet Nam vet.  I was a place that would wipe the smile off your face.

I'm still in a think mode about what a beekeeper is.  All of you should read the poem "Tell the Bees" by Emily Dickenson.
Title: Re: Beekeepers Are...........?
Post by: Jen on January 31, 2014, 12:18:30 pm
Lazy Shooter  ""A child of the sixties.'  I doubt that.""

Right smack in the middle of it my friend!   

Made Love Not War
Vote McGovern

Except I didn't vote for McGovern
Title: Re: Beekeepers Are...........?
Post by: iddee on January 31, 2014, 02:13:59 pm
Did Mcgovern keep bees?

Now back to our regularly scheduled program.