The language of bee and honey
These words often show up in searches, so I decided to make a table of translations. I had guessed that many of them meant either “bee” or “honey” because they show up frequently, almost every day. So just for fun, here are those two words in 42 languages. Language Bee Honey Arabic نَحْلَـه، نَحْـل عَسَل […] Read more
Are bees insects or animals?
The short answer is yes, bees are both insects and animals. In fact, all insects are animals, and pretty much anything that’s not a plant, fungus, bacterium, virus, or protist is an animal too. I’m dating myself here, but when I attended grade school, everything was either a plant or an animal—those were the only […] Read more
Fifteen ways to attract pollinators to your yard
Here are fifteen easy ways to attract pollinators to your yard or garden. Although winter is at its peak, it’s not too soon to start planning for the season to come. Plant clover in your lawn. White Dutch clover planted in your lawn will attract dozens of pollinators. In addition, it fixes atmospheric nitrogen into […] Read more
“How do I kill my neighbor’s honey bees?”
This is an open letter to the person who looked for the answer to this question on my website: Dear Angry Person, In case you hadn’t noticed, the world population is edging toward 7 billion—that’s a 7 with nine zeros after it. Among these people are a whole lot that don’t like each other, and […] Read more
Sweat bee in a buttercup
Sweat bees are small bees usually about 1/4- to 1/2-inch long (0.6-1.3 cm). Their common name refers to the fact that they are attracted to the salt in human sweat. In the United States, sweat bees are usually brown, black, red, or metallic green.They are the most common type of bee in the whole northern […] Read more
Queen cups: cut them or leave them?
Like nearly everything else in beekeeping, how you handle queen cups depends on a number of factors. It depends on what you are trying to accomplish and whether you are a commercial beekeeper or a hobbyist. It is also influenced by your general attitude toward messing with nature. Oddly enough, it also changes with time: […] Read more