Apiary vs Aviary
"Hmm, I don't think I should approve of this."A play taking place in an office in an old farm house starring me, Non Birding Bill, Mr. Neil, and Mr. Neil's personal assistant Fabulous Lorraine:
Birdchick: Bees are just fascinating! I love reading about hive management.
Mr. Neil: I've always thought that my plum trees would actually have fruit if I had some bees to pollinate them.
Non Birding Bill: Hey, what bird is that outside?
Fab Lorraine: Neil, don't forget about that deadline, maybe you should go out to the gazebo and work.
Birdchick: That's a nuthatch, dear. You know, I've always wanted to try bee keeping when we move out of our apartment.
Non Birding Bill: No, hey, look out here at this really weird bird. Over here, honey.
Mr. Neil: Me too! I've always wanted to have a bee hive here.
Fab Lorraine & Non Birding Bill: You're both too busy!
Mr. Neil: What if we kept bees here and you came and took care of them, and I could help when I'm in town.
Fab Lorraine & Non Birding Bill: (imagine moving in slow motion) Nooooooooooooooooooo!
Birdchick: I bet between both our travel schedules we could do this.
Non Birding Bill: No! What will happen is you both will be out of town at the same time and there will be some kind of bee emergency and I'll have to take care of it, no. No no no no no no no!
Mr. Neil: I know the perfect spot to keep the hive over where we went owling a few winters ago.
Birdchick: That is a perfect spot!
Fab Lorraine: I am NOT helping with this at all!
Birdchick: There is a great weekend class we can take in March at the University of Minnesota that tells us how to keep bees!
Mr. Neil: Let me show you some useful websites.
End Scene
And so this summer I get to realize my dream of keeping an apiary! I'm taking a weekend course in bee keeping this weekend, whoot! We've got our bees ordered, they will arrive in mid-April which means no ABA Convention for me this year (which is okay I wasn't that excited about going to Louisiana).
I promise that this won't be the bee chick blog but there probably will be one or two posts relating to our bee hive enterprises. I think we'll survive this, I've blogged about Monarch Ranching before.
posted by birdchick at 6:16 AM
14 Comments:
Wow, sweet. I am so jealous. I was just telling my g/f how I want one when we get some real property. Then again, I doubt our townhouse association has anything in the by-laws about apiaries. Watch out for those mite infestations. I'm officially adding my name to the list of people to purchase official Disapproving Rabbit Brand Honey in the rabbit-shaped squeeze bottle.
That is an excellent example of disapproval. The one-corner-of-mouth smirk of disapproval. Classic.
i can't wait to see the pics of disapproving bees... will there be a shirt... a book... and i'm with patrick i'll buy the disapproving rabbit honey - with that picture of cinnamon on the label, she definitely disapproves
oh and hey check out my site - my bunny Luther apparently saw that Wild Bunny climbing the tree that you posted in Feb and he started climbing as a new hobby!
carri ann
aka archi's mum
disapproving bees???? I thought
we might see "disapproving NBB"
Looking forward to reading about your beekeeping adventures. I have worked as a beekeeper in the past , and know you will love beekeeping. Check out a beekeeping blog I read Hive Mind Bee Blog, its the birdchick blog of the beekeeping world.
Hi Mark,
thanks so much for the link, I'm a novice at this and appreciate any advice, web addresses or book recommendations.
The honey will probably not be called Disapproving Rabbit Honey, I'm sharing this endeavor with Mr. Neil so he has a say in the name. Personally, I like the combo of our last names: "Staiman Honey" a play on the flower part stamen:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stamen
Hey NBB!
You'll need to keep in mind that using vinegar immediately after a bee sting will soothe the pain.
Birds, bunnies, Bills and bees.
Are you going to get into bats now? Or baboons? Or bears?
I want chickens in the yard, but can't get my husband to see that the idea is a good one.
I need my own Mr. Neil.
So, will NBB now stand for "Non-Beekeeping Bill?"
My best friend has recently taken up beekeeping, and is encouraging me to try it. Apparently, beekeepers give their hives a woman's name. Joyce named her hives Elizabeth and Victoria, after Queens of England. Being of Scottish ancestory, if I get a hive I will have to name it Mary, Queen of the Scots.
Keep us updated on this project - I'm interested to hear how it goes.
~Kathi, whose Aristocratic Name is Her Imperial Majesty Kathi the Convincing of Lardle St Earache
Name the hives? Maybe I'll name them after Bond Babes:
Honey Rider
Plenty O'Toole
Octopussy (my favorite Bond Girl and my original choice of profession if this whole birding thing hadn't happened).
A bun smirk! Love it Cin.
Did you forget Pussy Galore -- I am sure that is worthy of some disaproval.
Strangely and completely coincidentally, as another Friend-of-the Marvellous-Mr-Neil, I too wrote a blog entry on bees and bee-keeping today.
Look!
Don't expect to understand a word of it. I hope Mr Neil doesn't end up with bees of the killer variety.
Awesome--bee chick. A word of caution: I heard part of an NPR story on "sudden hive collapse," a bad mojo that is hitting a lot of beekeepers in almost every state.
I also want to be on the list for a case of official Disapproving Rabbit Brand Honey in the rabbit-shaped squeeze bottle!
I wish Kat would allow me to have chickens or ducks, but no go so far. Can Mr. Neil come over and convince her too?
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