Posted on 02/17/2021 6:47:45 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
*Garden Ping*
Sure hope they could keep these little guys warm enough during this awful cold snap in Texas!
I think this is a great idea - more prisons should have gardens, bees; anything that teaches life skills.
Watch out for the murder hornets.
Honey, I shrunk the crooks.....................
Bee man of Alcatraz.
Great article thanks for posting.
Agreed, Diana. According to my sister’s TV, the latest fad is to match inmates with dogs — most of which have similarly bad reputations — for socialization, taming and eventual adoption to “forever homes.” (I don’t really care for that term, but it’s nowhere near as grating as “fur baby.”)
I’ve read about that, too; inmates training dogs. They should make them train police dogs, LOL! ;)
Stupid trivia, they’re MOSTLY gals. There ARE some males (drones), but their job is to eat, and procreate with other queens. The rest of the hive is full of the queen, and her daughters.
I thought I was the only one who can’t stand the term “fur baby.”
The Rooster may crow, but the Hen delivers the goods! :)
One thing that beekeeping teaches is the value of self-control. When you get stung a few times—and you will get stung—yelling and waving your arms about will not make things better. Bees and hives have ‘moods’. If the bees are in a bad mood, you’ll just have to check on the hive another time. But you also will have to put the hive back together no matter how many times you get nailed.
Oddly beekeeping promotes calm, steady, watchful behavior. Traits many should acquire.
Humboldt County has some acreage in a warmer region about 30 miles south of Eureka where some of the inmates produce veggies for the jail...
My ‘old’ farm was next to a prison farm. They had a dairy, a pork and beef operation, chickens, grew tons of veggies; were 100% self-supporting as far as food went.
They also raised ringed-neck Pheasants for DNR stock. (Pheasants are not native to WI, but people love to hunt them.)
One of the ‘inmates’ was released and ended up managing a dairy for a local farm and another sold nothing but Green Beans at the big Farmer’s Market - he was a hoot.
Never had a lick of trouble from them, but I was VERY glad when they moved their pig operation downwind from my farm, LOL!
Work friend of mine tried raising bees for a time.
Ultimately she gave it up, due to the sheer number of flora & fauna out there that seek to kill the poor things.
She also mentioned that their honey taste can vary, depending on the types of plants they visit. Sure enough, the sample she provided me had a slight rosemary taste.
Bee’s are deaf bee keepers some times herd them by banging a large spoon on a pan or large pot.
Great article. Thanks for the ping.
Cold generally doesn’t bother bees, where they are used to it. It will be 7 degrees here in WV on sat. And my wife’s hives will be fine. The bees basically cluster in a ball and flap their wings to stay warm. It can be 95 degrees in the center of the cluster and freezing outside. Snow on the hives will act as insulation. Making sure there is enough food (honey) in the hive to get the bees through the winter is key.
If there is no stored food and the bees are not strong enough to ward off such a sudden and unaccustomed drop in temperature then there could be problems. The temperature is suppose to pop back up and the beekeepers will be checking the hives the first day over 50 degrees.
The cattle, sheep and horses are the ones in real trouble. Mostly due to frozen water sources.
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