Are they worker bees, girls, or units?
Writing a blog is fun, especially when readers write comments and e-mails. This morning I opened a message with an e-mail address I had seen before. It was a long piece, so I scanned it first. My eyes fell on the phrase “apis production unit” as in “The apis production units are now building comb . . . .” Say what? Further on the phrase was shortened, as in “zillions of production units.” Eventually it became even more succinct as in, “the units have to crawl over it.” (emphasis added)
I had to read the message word-by-word before I figured out that the writer—knowing my dislike for the term “girls” and in deference to my delicate psyche—had renamed them, “apis production units.” Now I was laughing out loud.
I admit to writing from time to time that I don’t use the term “girls” because I think it’s weird. But I have no problem with someone else using it. It’s just a choice—mine and theirs. I won’t get a fit of the vapors if someone uses the word in my presence. Still, it was a sweet gesture.
Unfortunately, the writer doesn’t know my issues with the word “unit.” My husband uses “unit” indiscriminately, which drives me crazy. He might be talking about the stove, as in “I’d like to replace that unit” or the refrigerator as in, “that unit doesn’t fit as well as the last one” or the dishwasher, “the door on that unit . . .” Or it could be cars, “Ford produced more units than . . . .”
Why, oh why, can’t we just name the object and be done with it? But no, I’m clueless. I have to guess what we’re talking about. Constantly. (I don’t know if I should blame this quirk on the fact that he’s an engineer or that he’s Canadian. It has to be one or the other . . . but, I digress.)
In spite of my personal hang-ups, the writer of the e-mail is my hero of the day. He made me laugh. I picture him on a white steed with a suit of golden maille and “zillions” of apis production units swirling about his helmet. Never offending the ladies, chivalry is job one.
Oh, one more thing: when I get tired of blogging about APUs I’m going to blog about English. Trust me. But you already know that . . . .
Rusty
Comments
This made me smile
In cooking school, everything was “product.” Didn’t matter if it was produce or meat. Took me a while to get used to it, longer for my husband, but it kinda makes sense if you’re focusing on the theory not the thing. BTW, apologies for my bad English here, but I’m kinda stressed and was just drafting a post on being tired of blogging. I’m just about over it. If only I had actual bees – oh wait, APUs – to play with. Thanks for the fun post. – HB
Intangible things are “product” as well–insurance policies, vacation packages, even services. So, yeah, that’s another word I have issues with. It’s kind of strange how innocent words with no malice can bother us.
APUs seems like a term almond growers would use.
It seems we have to put honey in jars and that those jars should be labeled with something that distinguishes their contents from all the other kinds of honey. In our tiny survey to name our honey production units, we all agreed on “Coastal Honey Girls”, and the slogan, “Without the “girls,” there’d be no honey.” I’m sorry, but we just couldn’t help trying to sound cute. We live on the Intra-Coastal Waterway on Florida’s west coast. “Intra-Coastal Honey Girls”? – more informative, but too technical sounding, less friendly.
Part of the motivation was to give more credit to the bee than to the beekeeper. Some may not know that we are talking about the bees and assume the beekeepers are women. Just as well. We figure people will be more likely to buy honey from women, anyway. Women just seem friendlier. Compare “Thank heaven for little girls,” as Maurice Chevalier wrote in his song with Winnie-the-Pooh’s observation, “You never can tell with bees.” Pooh, of course was 100% right, but bees just aren’t sexy. Bee sex is too clinical, as in everyone’s first discussion with their parents about “the birds and the bees.”
I had another idea for selling honey. I just started keeping bees and I do not yet have plans to produce much more honey we can eat ourselves or give away to friends, but who knows where a good idea might come from, right? My idea is to sell honey, not by the type of flower the bees frequented while making it, but by the specific region. If it is more beneficial to eat local honey, then the more local the better. Who cares what flower it came from, especially when that cannot be easily determined (see Pooh’s observation, above).
Perhaps we should rather think of honey as coming from a specific region or neighborhood the way European wines are. With wine, the region is more deterministic than the type of grape. I had this idea when I was sitting at my desk at work, dipping into my honey jar from home. This was honey from My bees made from All the flowers in my neighborhood. That is what made it special. There was nostalgia and longing for place. People might order honey from their home town, just to have that connection, or be tempted to pick up a sample while on vacation. What a great souvenir to literally taste your holiday over and over again, because the honey keeps so well.
Was I talking about girls, bees, flowers or wine? Don’t know, but it sure can be hard to stop once you get started. Thanks for the space.
Is vinegar a good agent for overall hive body cleaning – given that they would have plenty of time to dry before reuse. I’m not sure if some of my hives had dysentary or Nosema, so should i scrub them out? Donna
Donna,
Vinegar won’t help with Nosema spores. Please see “How to clean up from Nosema apis.”