Saturday's Internet Edition, July 31, 2010.
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- Have you ever seen a swarm of bees? I’m not sure I had until last week when the fire department was called to Mike Barrendey, Sr.’ residence about a swarm of bees in a tree.
It turns out that the fire department does two things when they get a call on bees swarming. One, they foam spray the swarm and the swarm all dies. Or two, they call Dr. Albert Friday, who, if he has time, comes and lures the swarm of bees into a swarm lure and takes them to a hive.
Bees, you see, are an amazing creation and certainly don’t deserve to die. Bees pollinate nearly everything....flowers, fruit, food plants, etc.
But that’s not all that makes them amazing. Bees are very regimented and every member of a bee hive has a specific job. As they do the job, they are then promoted to other duties within the hive.
And the hives boss gal is the Queen Bee. She lives a pampered live because it is her job to lay the eggs that create other workers and drones. So the queen bee is served by other worker bees who provide for her needs and, in particular, feed her royal jelly. In fact, that’s all she eats. Other bees eat other items but the queen gets royal jelly alone.
To become a queen, the virgin goes on an approximate 10-day journey and she mates with as many drone bees as she can in that period. She is unique in that she retains the sperm in her body and as she lays eggs later, she fertilizes the eggs with a single sperm cell. She detects whether to fertilize an egg by the size of the octagon shaped place where she lays them. If it is bigger, she does not fertilize the egg and the bee becomes a drone (male).
By the way, drones do not have stingers. They just have the parts necessary to impregnate the queen. Worker bees, females, on the other hand do have stingers but they’ll only sting if they feel the hive is threatened. You see, if they sting, they give their life for the hive.
After the bees hatch, they begin life in the hive at the bottom performing household duties like cleaning the hive. They then are promoted to workers who work the octagon shaped bees wax depositories for eggs and, yes, honey.
Some are given the duty of serving the queen, while others become scouts and venture from the hive in search of nector from which honey is made after being dried to a moisture content of 16%.
The amazing thing about these scouts is that when they find the source of nector, they return to the hive to tell others where the food supply is. They do this by performing a dance in total darkness and the other bees detect the vibrations which tell them precisely where the food supply is located in terms of azimuth and distance from the hive.
Their accuracy has been proven to be right about 95% of the time. The other 5% of the time, they may miss it by ten yards or so.
And another amazing thing about bees is they can detect ultraviolate landing areas on plants. These landing areas make it easier for the bees to get in and pollinate the plant while at the same time extracting the nector.
Meanwhile, back at the hive, the queen is busy laying eggs, up to 4 million of them over her live span. And the worker bees are preparing the hive with the bees wax octagon shaped storage sites for eggs and honey.
Once the honey has filled the hive frames, a thin seal of bees wax is covered over the frame to preserve the honey for an indefinate period of time. Normal hive operators leave two supers so that the bees have enough food to survive the winter months.
Any supers, filled with honey, above two are replaced and then the honey is harvested by removing the thin bees wax seal and then placing the frame in a circular extractor.
And, do you know that the bees brain is no larger than a pin head. Bees are amazing creatures and certainly reinforce the fact that there has to be a God in this world.
So if you see a swarm of bees, don’t panic. They’re looking for a new home to carry on with their lives as God made them to do.
Column One
By Dawn Simpson
It’s always nice when someone comes up with something to enjoy that’s never been done here before. High School English teacher, Lois Flanagan, has had her Senior English students write poetry about different subjects. These students will be participating in a Poetry Reading at the Cornerstone Coffee Shop tonight, May 13th at 7 pm. However, there will be others reading as well. Local cowboy poets, Ray Fitzgerald and Robert Kinford, and any one else who might want to read, are encouraged to participate. So check it out. Sounds like something fun and different. Thanks Lois.
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The calendar for the rest of May and into June is getting real full. Lots of end-of-school activities are planned and we will include those on our Community Calendar if we know about them. And on the heels of all those activities will be the approaching Van Horn Jubilee 2010, to be held June 17-20. There’s a web site to go to for the latest info on that – www.vanhornjubilee.com. Keep spreading the word to out-of-town family and friends and be planning on a great time! Lyndon McDonald is the organizer of this big event that takes place every 5 years.
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One of the great things about summer is outdoor grilling. Don’t you love the smell and taste of food cooked outside on the grill. Even smelling it from a neighbor’s yard makes your mouth water. The following was sent to me by a friend and you’ll get a chuckle out of it. Yes, grilling is a man’s thing, but….
BBQ RULES
We're entering the BBQ season. Therefore it is important to refresh your memory on the etiquette of this sublime outdoor cooking activity . When a man volunteers to do the BBQ the following chain of events are put into motion:
Routine...
(1) The woman buys the food.
(2) The woman makes the salad, prepares the vegetables, and makes dessert.
(3) The woman prepares the meat for cooking, places it on a tray along with the necessary cooking utensils and sauces, and takes it to the man who is lounging beside the grill - beer in hand.
(4) The woman remains outside the compulsory three meter exclusion zone where the exuberance of testosterone and other manly bonding activities can take place without the interference of the woman.
Here comes the important part:
(5) THE MAN PLACES THE MEAT ON THE GRILL.
More routine...
(6) The woman goes inside to organize the plates and cutlery.
(7) The woman comes out to tell the man that the meat is looking great. He thanks her and asks if she will bring another beer while he flips the meat
Important again:
(8) THE MAN TAKES THE MEAT OFF THE GRILL AND HANDS IT TO THE WOMAN.
More routine...
(9) The woman prepares the plates, salad, bread, utensils, napkins, sauces, and brings them to the table.
(10) After eating, the woman clears the table and does the dishes.
And most important of all:
(11) Everyone PRAISES the MAN and THANKS HIM for his cooking efforts.
(12) The man asks the woman how she enjoyed‘her night off’ and, upon seeing her annoyed reaction, concludes that there's just no pleasing some women!
COMMUNITY CALENDAR
May 13th - Directors of the Culberson County Historical Museum Association are slated to meet this evening at 6 p.m. at the Clark Hotel Historical Museum.
May 14th - Van Horn Eagle state qualifiers run in the State Track Meet today.
May 15th - State Track Meet continues today.
May 16th - Attend the church of your choice today.
May 17th - Trustees of the Culberson County-Allamoore ISD are scheuled to meet this evening at 6 p.m. at the District Administration Building.
May 18th - The Van Horn Rotary Club will meet today at noon at Chuy’s Restaurant. The Van Horn High School Athletic Banquet will be held at 6 p.m. this evening at Eagle Cafeteria. Members of the Van Horn City Council are scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. tonight at City Hall.
May 19th - Nothing scheduled at press time.