Subject: Do They Know Me?

From: A. J. deLange <[email-masked]>
Date: 15 Jun 1995 00:30:25 GMT

I started my first two hives just about a month ago and all seems to be
going well. I'm feeding 50% (by weight) sugar syrup in Boardman feeders
with pint Mason jars. As the weather has turned warmer and the brood has
started to hatch the consumption of syrup has skyrocketed to the point
where a refill is required up to 4 times a day (hottest days). I have
changed these jars with no veil, no gloves, no qualms dozens of times
with no problems. Finally my wife said that is was ridiculous for me to
come home from work during the day to feed the bees and that she would do
it. The first time she did so (today) one of my little ladies gave her
life for the perceived good of the hive and it looks as if I'll be coming
home for lunch again.

The question is "why?" Do they know my smell or my movements or something
else about me? I usually wear a light colored shirt and jeans. My wife
had on a dress with a floral pattern (tasteful, mind you). Could this
have had something to do with it? She said they were definitely upset
about something.

I refilled the jars tonight with the usual response: i.e. I got
checked-out by the guard bees but that was it.

AJ

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From: [email-masked] (Ronald Healy)
Date: 17 Jun 1995 19:55:55 GMT

In article <[email-masked]>, A. J. deLange <[email-masked]> says:
>(Snip) Finally my wife said that is was ridiculous for me to

My experience is exactly the opposite.  I tend my bees quite regularily and 
although they are not usually aggressive, if something sets them off, I am 
the one who pays.  My wife often helps me, and when we work together, she
never gets attacked.  I have no idea why.  Figured it was the ladies 
sticking together! :-)

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From: [email-masked] (Aaron Morris)
Date: Fri, 16 Jun 95 07:19:52 EDT

In article <[email-masked]>
A. J. deLange <[email-masked]> writes:
 
>about something....
The short quick answer is "No, the bees don't know you, nor do they get
used to a beekeepere, nor do they develope an affinity towards one
beekeeper over another."  You or any other beekeeper are always an
invader of the hive and the bees will always defend the hive against an
invader.  The reasons why your wife got stung and you don't may be
attributed to weather or perhaps perfume or perhaps time of day or
perhaps your wife is left handed and you are right handed (it's as good
an explanation as any) or perhaps you are more comfortable working with
the bees and you wife was more nervous, hence the bees perceived your
wife as more of a threat, or perhaps the bees didn't find the floral
pattern as tasteful as you and your wife.
 
I always wear a veil whenever visiting my hives.  In my
early days of keeping bees I was bold and brave (perhaps brazen) and
worked hives in cut offs and no shirt.  I was real macho about it - "I
don't need no stinkin' protection!"  One day I was showing my hives to a
friend and I was commenting about how truly amazing it was that bees had
such a bad reputation when actually they are quite docile.  No sooner
had the words left my mouth when a bee flew directly from the hive to my
face to deliver the sting.  Moral of the story is sometimes they're
docile kitten bees and other times they have an attitude.  Who can say why?
 
There is a very good description of how bees react in _The_Hive_and_the_
Honeybee_ (which I don't have with me right now so I can quote chapter or
pages or contributing author).  The chapter compares the tiny bee brains
to simple rudimentary computer programs which only have a few subroutines
to handle a wide variety of inputs.  The article states that the main bee
subroutine is to ramble over the combs in the hive until this seemingly
aimless rambling brings the bees to some other stimulus that kicks in
another move powerful subroutine (such as: IF RAMBLING THEN IF ENCOUNTER
QUEEN THEN GROOM QUEEN).  The subroutines that click in don't involve a
thought process per se, perhaps because the bees' brain is too small to
be capable of thought.  And the subroutines available to a bee are
different at different stages of development.  The subroutines available
to a guard bee are not available to newly emerged bees as the new fuzzy
bees don't have the biological capability to defend the hive.
 
I have perhaps rambled in this answer, but the two main points are that
bees don't "recognise" their keepers, and _The_Hive_and_the_Honeybee_ is
an excellent text that makes great reading!
 
Aaron Morris - I think, therefore I bee!

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From: Kevin Ormerod <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 19 Jun 1995 13:54:14 GMT

I see that you got several answers concerning the bees reaction
to your wife, but how about taking a look at the feeder problem --
Boardman feeders with ONE PINT JARS.  Why not go to a 1 gal.
or a 3 gal feeder pail over the inner cover or a division board
feeder (holds about a gallon also).  Using a bigger feeder would
eliminate the multiple trips during the day.

KO

==========A. J. deLange, 6/15/95==========

AJ