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Cat Forum / Cat Anecdotes / July 2006Boy, Are We in Trouble.
DH ordered a new queen bee and it came in today's mail. They come in a little cage about the size of a small matchbox, with 4 or 5 drones in with her. I opened up the package to give her a little water and just laid the little cage on the bar. I've been outside quite a while, came in and the papers are on the floor and the little cage is totally gone. Gone. I can't find it anywhere. I even crept in the bedroom and shook the covers to see if one of the cats took it in there. *Somebody* carried it off. I'm not naming any names (bootsiebootsiebootsie) but the cage is only secure by a plug that is made out of sugar. Well, off to look some more. I never dreamed they would get on the bar and mess with that. Sherry Oh. My. God. Well, at least if it was Bootsie, DH won't be so mad if they are gone and lost. Hope no one gets stung!!! Hope you find them. Keep us posted. > DH ordered a new queen bee and it came in today's mail. They come in a > little cage about the size of a small matchbox, with 4 or 5 drones in [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > > Sherry > Oh. My. God. Well, at least if it was Bootsie, DH won't be so mad if they > are gone and lost. Hope no one gets stung!!! Hope you find them. Keep us [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > > > > Sherry LOL! You are right! I told him about the missing queen ordeal when he got up. I also told him I thought it was probably Bootsie because she was the only one not sleeping when I went outside. He said, "You always blame EVERYTHING on Bootsie." Then turned over to Boots and said, "Booty-girl, mommy's talking doo-doo about you again. I know you didn't have ANYTHING to do with it." Sherry >> Oh. My. God. Well, at least if it was Bootsie, DH won't be so mad if they >> are gone and lost. Hope no one gets stung!!! Hope you find them. Keep us [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > > Sherry ROTFLMAO!!!! >> LOL! You are right! I told him about the missing queen ordeal when he >> got up. I also told him I thought it was probably Bootsie because she [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > >ROTFLMAO!!!! LOL! That must have been a fun toy for whoever it was. > LOL! You are right! I told him about the missing queen ordeal when he > got up. I also told him I thought it was probably Bootsie because she [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Sherry Bad Sherry, Bootsie would never get into anything of her paw's. LOL. Rob is the same way about Tanada. No matter how involved she is in destroying something, the other cats either did it, or made her do it. Pam S. who knows Tanada does some of it > DH ordered a new queen bee and it came in today's mail. They come in a > little cage about the size of a small matchbox, with 4 or 5 drones in [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > > Sherry Aww. I'm so sorry. Nuele is a beekeeper and I know how important this is. I hope you find the queen hiding in your curtains (drapes) or something. Tweed > DH ordered a new queen bee and it came in today's mail. They come in > a little cage about the size of a small matchbox, with 4 or 5 drones [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > Well, off to look some more. I never dreamed they would get on the > bar and mess with that. Eep! That sounds like a mess.  Signaturemonique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca > DH ordered a new queen bee and it came in today's mail. They come in a > little cage about the size of a small matchbox, with 4 or 5 drones in > with her. I didn't realize bees could be mailed! Good luck on finding your queen. I'm sure Kumani and Tyche would consider her a tasty treat (I'm glad ours have never encountered bees--they'd get stung for sure). --Fil > > DH ordered a new queen bee and it came in today's mail. They come in a > > little cage about the size of a small matchbox, with 4 or 5 drones in [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > --Fil Found them. Still in the cage, on the pantry floor. I guess they were playing hockey-puck on the kitchen floor and knocked it under the pantry door. They don't look any worse for the experience, thankfully! Sherry > Found them. Still in the cage, on the pantry floor. I guess they were > playing hockey-puck on the kitchen floor and knocked it under the > pantry door. They don't look any worse for the experience, thankfully! That's a relief!! I guess you guys keep bees? Or your DH does? Joyce > > Found them. Still in the cage, on the pantry floor. I guess they were > > playing hockey-puck on the kitchen floor and knocked it under the [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Joyce DH does. I just help with the processing. Even when the cats went outdoors on their own, they never went to the apiary. Boots would sit at the gate and wait on DH to come back. That's what surprised me about them bothering the queen cage. There's one hive that has been doing poorly that he had to re-queen. Either the queen had died or was just not a good queen. That's why he ordered a new queen. They send her in a package with a few drones to take care of her on the trip. Sherry > > > Found them. Still in the cage, on the pantry floor. I guess they were > > > playing hockey-puck on the kitchen floor and knocked it under the [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > ordered a new queen. They send her in a package with a few drones to > take care of her on the trip. Dumb bee question: If its a poorly performing queen, what happens to her whenthe new queen comes along? And how does the new queen know to set up shop there rather than finding some other place? Since hte hive isn't of hte new queen's genetic relations, what happens to them? And what happens to the drones that accompanied her on her travels? Why does she need to be escorted with drones? How does the place your DH bought it from breed queens instead of workers or drones? Yowie, just curious. > > > > Found them. Still in the cage, on the pantry floor. I guess they were > > > > playing hockey-puck on the kitchen floor and knocked it under the [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > > Yowie, just curious. > Dumb bee question: Not dumb questions! It's really pretty interesting. I don't know as much as DH does but I'll try to answer: > If its a poorly performing queen, what happens to her whenthe new queen > comes along? And how does the new queen know to set up shop there rather > than finding some other place? DH whacks the old queen, then puts the new queen (still in the cage) in the brood chamber. Remember the little matchbox-sized cage she is in is plugged with a sugar plug. Her and the drones start chewing through it, and by the time they escape, the worker bees are accustomed to her scent and will accept her. Remember their old queen is dead, and they honestly don't know what to do without a queen. They'll just crawl all over the outside of the hive, or just die or run away. He does this when a hive is aggressive, too. He had one hive that would chase him all the way back to the house. He re-queened it, and they're just as docile as can be now. In nature, sometimes a hive will produce their own new queen. When they do the old queen leaves and takes half of the worker bees with her. > Since hte hive isn't of hte new queen's genetic relations, what happens to > them? And what happens to the drones that accompanied her on her travels? They get used to her by the time she escapes the cage. There are other tricks too, like putting a teaspoon of vanilla extract in a spray bottle, and spraying them *all* down. That way they don't know WHO smells funny! > Why does she need to be escorted with drones? The drones are like bodyguards. He usually clips the new queen's wings just in case she does decide to split. If she does try to leave the hive the first day, she can't fly very far. The way you find her is that you'll find a clump of drones in the grass outside the hive, covering up the queen and protecting her. Their only other job is to mate with the queen. They are fertile males, and the worker bees are infertile females. > How does the place your DH bought it from breed queens instead of workers or > drones? I think it's a grafting process. They remove "queen cells" from the brood chamber and raise them by hand somehow. Whether a honeybee larvae is destined to be a worker bee or a queen bee depends on what it is fed during development. It's really interesting. They have AMAZING communication abilities. DH could explain this a lot better than me, but I hope this helps (or make sense). Sherry > Not dumb questions! It's really pretty interesting. You're right - that was fascinating, Sherry. Thanks for those answers, I was probably just as interested as Yowie. I have a question about queens: are they substantially larger than other bees? I'm thinking of termite queens, which don't even look like the other termites. They look more like a tent that the termites might hang out in for an afternoon concert. :) When you say that the queen bee could fly away, I guess she couldn't be *that* big! > DH whacks the old queen, then puts the new queen (still in the cage) in > the brood chamber. Remember the little matchbox-sized cage she is in is > plugged with a sugar plug. Her and the drones start chewing through it, > and by the time they escape, the worker bees are accustomed to her > scent and will accept her. That's great. Good trick! > In nature, sometimes a hive will produce their own new queen. When they > do the old queen leaves and takes half of the worker bees with her. Really? *Half*? That's so... *fair*. I didn't realize such fairness occurred in nature, aside from among humans, that is. > They get used to her by the time she escapes the cage. There are other > tricks too, like putting a teaspoon of vanilla extract in a spray > bottle, and spraying them *all* down. That way they don't know WHO > smells funny! Hey, it works on cats, why not bees? > I think it's a grafting process. They remove "queen cells" from the > brood chamber and raise them by hand somehow. Whether a honeybee larvae > is destined to be a worker bee or a queen bee depends on what it is fed > during development. OK, this confuses me. At first, when you say "queen cells", it sounds like certain larvae contain cells that are destined to be queens. But then you say that it has to do with how they're nourished. In other words, is this a nature or nurture issue? > It's really interesting. They have AMAZING communication abilities. So I've read. I've been on this big kick about animal intelligence lately, so this sort of thing really captures my interest. Joyce On Thu 06 Jul 2006 09:53:08p, wrote in rec.pets.cats.anecdotes (news:44adbe84$0$34527$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net): > You're right - that was fascinating, Sherry. Thanks for those > answers, I was probably just as interested as Yowie. Yes, very interesting! SignatureCheryl > I have a question about queens: are they substantially larger than > other bees? I'm thinking of termite queens, which don't even look > like the other termites. They look more like a tent that the termites > might hang out in for an afternoon concert. :) When you say that the > queen bee could fly away, I guess she couldn't be *that* big! She's about twice as big as the rest of the bees. A little fatter, but mostly longer. > OK, this confuses me. At first, when you say "queen cells", it sounds > like certain larvae contain cells that are destined to be queens. But > then you say that it has to do with how they're nourished. In other > words, is this a nature or nurture issue? They make "queen cells" in preparation of raising a new queen (in nature). They feed the larvae in those cells this stuff called "royal jelly". It's something of a secretion from the bees themselves. So that's why it turns into a queen. I'm not sure how the people that raise queens to sell do it exactly. I get very interested in animal intelligence/other species that live in communities too. Termites are really interesting also. (Well, interesting as long as they're far, far away!) Sherry >> Dumb bee question: > [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > they > do the old queen leaves and takes half of the worker bees with her. Sounds rather like she's getting a divorce and taking half the "assets" :) Jill > >> Dumb bee question: > > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > Jill Heh. They don't have to worry about divorce. The drones primary reason for existance is to mate with the queen. The ones that are successful die right after mating. The ones that aren't are allowed to hang around and protect the queen until fall. Then she drives them out of the hive and won't let them back in. They don't work, so they are kind of worthless members of society, so to speak. Sherry wrote >Heh. They don't have to worry about divorce. The drones primary reason >for existance is to mate with the queen. The ones that are successful >die right after mating. The ones that aren't are allowed to hang around >and protect the queen until fall. Then she drives them out of the hive >and won't let them back in. They don't work, so they are kind of >worthless members of society, so to speak. Pah! SignatureDavid Stevenson Storypage: http://blakjak.com/sty_menu.htm Liverpool, England, UK <cat2@blakjak.com> Emails welcome Nanki Poo: SI O+W B 12 Y L+ W++ C+ I T+ A- E H++ V- F Q P+ B+ PA+ PL SC Minke: SI W+Cp B 3 Y L W+ C++ I T A- E H++ V++ F- Q- P B PA+ PL+ SC- >>> Dumb bee question: >> [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >>> >Sounds rather like she's getting a divorce and taking half the "assets" :) This is how the colony reproduces, splitting off a daughter colony to set up residence somewhere else. SignatureJohn F. Eldredge -- john@jfeldredge.com PGP key available from http://pgp.mit.edu "Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria > Dumb bee question: Not dumb questions! It's really pretty interesting. I don't know as much as DH does but I'll try to answer: > If its a poorly performing queen, what happens to her whenthe new queen > comes along? And how does the new queen know to set up shop there rather > than finding some other place? DH whacks the old queen, then puts the new queen (still in the cage) in the brood chamber. Remember the little matchbox-sized cage she is in is plugged with a sugar plug. Her and the drones start chewing through it, and by the time they escape, the worker bees are accustomed to her scent and will accept her. Remember their old queen is dead, and they honestly don't know what to do without a queen. They'll just crawl all over the outside of the hive, or just die or run away. He does this when a hive is aggressive, too. He had one hive that would chase him all the way back to the house. He re-queened it, and they're just as docile as can be now. In nature, sometimes a hive will produce their own new queen. When they do the old queen leaves and takes half of the worker bees with her. > Since hte hive isn't of hte new queen's genetic relations, what happens to > them? And what happens to the drones that accompanied her on her travels? They get used to her by the time she escapes the cage. There are other tricks too, like putting a teaspoon of vanilla extract in a spray bottle, and spraying them *all* down. That way they don't know WHO smells funny! > Why does she need to be escorted with drones? The drones are like bodyguards. He usually clips the new queen's wings just in case she does decide to split. If she does try to leave the hive the first day, she can't fly very far. The way you find her is that you'll find a clump of drones in the grass outside the hive, covering up the queen and protecting her. Their only other job is to mate with the queen. They are fertile males, and the worker bees are infertile females. > How does the place your DH bought it from breed queens instead of workers or > drones? I think it's a grafting process. They remove "queen cells" from the brood chamber and raise them by hand somehow. Whether a honeybee larvae is destined to be a worker bee or a queen bee depends on what it is fed during development. It's really interesting. They have AMAZING communication abilities. DH could explain this a lot better than me, but I hope this helps (or make sense). Sherry I remember as a boy having the bee hives on the other side of crop fields they pollinated the fields for us. We always gather honey from them. The funny thing about honey is that it will have the taste of the plants that they were using as food. I got stung some many times learning how to collect the honey. The folks never used bee suits did use smokers to move them to the new fields when we changed areas for seasons. I always loved fresh honey combs as a snack. Damn now I miss the good old days nothing like growing up in the country I do remember when we did not get a new queen out in time and she took half the colony with her the took up residence in an old oak tree and it was a pain in the a.s to get her out and move the hive where we wanted >> Dumb bee question: > [quoted text clipped - 52 lines] > > Sherry > I remember as a boy having the bee hives on the other side of crop fields > they pollinated the fields for us. We always gather honey from them. The [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > fresh honey combs as a snack. Damn now I miss the good old days nothing > like growing up in the country When I was real little about 3 or 4, the old man found a hive in the walls of an old building that they were going to tear down. So he dug out the older boys, and had them help him harvest the honey. They smoked the bees out, used netting over themselves and so forth. They didn't get stung once bringing all that stuff home. However, when Mom was doing something to remove the honey from the hive, a bunch of them came back to life and went nuts through the house stinging everyone around. I think I got five or six stings before my oldest sister grabbed me and got my little sister and me out of the house. They got almost five gallons of honey (it was a very large hive). Needless to say, I'm not a bee fan, and rarely use honey for anything. Pam S. who doesn't miss the old days on the farm > In nature, sometimes a hive will produce their own new queen. When > they do the old queen leaves and takes half of the worker bees with > her. A few months ago, one of my co workers got a phone call -- bees were swarming in a tree outside his house. Apparently the above had happened, but they hadn't found a suitable place to re-hive wherever they came from, so they were hanging out in the tree while scouts looked for suitable hive locations. Fortunately they had moved on by evening. If not, my co worker had found a bee keeper willing to come get them -- I wonder how that would work. Signaturemonique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca > > In nature, sometimes a hive will produce their own new queen. When > > they do the old queen leaves and takes half of the worker bees with [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > -- > monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully That happens a lot in the spring. They're pretty cooperative when they're swarming, they're easy to get. With all the talk about Africanized bees though, I hate it when people call like that. I wish DH would just buy the domestic ones and not gather wild ones. Sherry >Dumb bee question: > >If its a poorly performing queen, what happens to her whenthe new queen >comes along? I was going to ask that! > And how does the new queen know to set up shop there rather >than finding some other place? I was going to ask that! >Since hte hive isn't of hte new queen's genetic relations, what happens to >them? I was going to ask that! > And what happens to the drones that accompanied her on her travels? I was going to ask that! You have done a good job, not showing my ignorance here, Yowie! >Why does she need to be escorted with drones? Oh, I know that. Women just need someone when they travel to say that their hair looks great. >How does the place your DH bought it from breed queens instead of workers or >drones? I was going to ask that! SignatureDavid Stevenson Storypage: http://blakjak.com/sty_menu.htm Liverpool, England, UK <cat2@blakjak.com> Emails welcome Nanki Poo: SI O+W B 12 Y L+ W++ C+ I T+ A- E H++ V- F Q P+ B+ PA+ PL SC Minke: SI W+Cp B 3 Y L W+ C++ I T A- E H++ V++ F- Q- P B PA+ PL+ SC- > Found them. Still in the cage, on the pantry floor. I guess they > were playing hockey-puck on the kitchen floor and knocked it under > the pantry door. They don't look any worse for the experience, > thankfully! So glad that all the critters in the house are unharmed! Signaturemonique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca >> > DH ordered a new queen bee and it came in today's mail. They come in a >> > little cage about the size of a small matchbox, with 4 or 5 drones in [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > Sherry So glad they are present and accounted for. About the only thing you can say for sure about cats, is if they can they probably will. Unless you expect or want them to. Applies to darn near everything. Jo >>> DH ordered a new queen bee and it came in today's mail. They come >>> in a little cage about the size of a small matchbox, with 4 or 5 [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > Sherry What a relief! SignatureAdrian (Owned by Snoopy and Bagheera) Cats leave pawprints on your heart. http://community.webshots.com/user/clowderuk SNIP > > --Fil > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Sherry Thankfully, yes! Although I'll bet if they could talk they'd have a few choice words for you. =o) They could also probably tell you who the Hockey Player(s) were. Melissa >>>DH ordered a new queen bee and it came in today's mail.<snip> > Found them. Still in the cage, on the pantry floor. I guess they were > playing hockey-puck on the kitchen floor and knocked it under the > pantry door. They don't look any worse for the experience, thankfully! > > Sherry What a relief! Best wishes, Polonca and Soncek >I didn't realize bees could be mailed! > >Good luck on finding your queen. I'm sure Kumani and Tyche would >consider her a tasty treat (I'm glad ours have never encountered >bees--they'd get stung for sure). I've even heard that baby chicks are sent by mail. I can't even imagine that! > >I didn't realize bees could be mailed! > > [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > I've even heard that baby chicks are sent by mail. I can't even > imagine that! Oh, yes. In the spring here if you go get your mail early you can hear the chicks in the back at the post office waiting to be picked up! DH ordered a whole hive last year IIRC it was about 30,000 bees, in a box with mesh sides. They called us at 7 a.m. from the post office. They were wanting them picked up pretty badly I think. Sherry >>>I didn't realize bees could be mailed! >>> [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > box with mesh sides. They called us at 7 a.m. from the post office. > They were wanting them picked up pretty badly I think. LOL. Easter was when the old man would get his chicks in the mail. It was the one time that he picked the mail up at the post office. Our play house, 8' X 10" was turned into a chick house with a heat lamp and shade to spread it out, special waterers as baby chicks can be really stupid and fall in. and bags of feed, ground oyster shell, and whatever else they needed. After they were old enough to join the hens in the chicken pen, we'd be spending hours scrubbing and disinfecting the playhouse out so that we could put our toys back in it. Pam S. who remembers the excitement and drudgery of peeper time > LOL. Easter was when the old man would get his chicks in the mail. It > was the one time that he picked the mail up at the post office. Our [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > chicken pen, we'd be spending hours scrubbing and disinfecting the > playhouse out so that we could put our toys back in it. I remember Aunt Alta and Uncle Oliver raising chickens near Guntersville, Alabama. They would get chicks by the crate and kept the young ones in tin brooders that looked like funnels and covered a large number of chicks. You had to check them frequently and pick up the dead ones or else you could lose them all. The barn cats left the chickens strictly alone (obRPCA material). I am extremely unimpressed with the intelligence of chickens. A chicken can survive without a head: http://www.miketheheadlesschicken.org/ Bud > >>>I didn't realize bees could be mailed! > >>I've even heard that baby chicks are sent by mail. I can't even > >>imagine that! I have a friend who has mailed baby snakes (non venomous), but I imagined a bee would be more squish-able, and more easily damaged by getting shaken around, than a snake. --Fil >>>I didn't realize bees could be mailed! >>> [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > box with mesh sides. They called us at 7 a.m. from the post office. > They were wanting them picked up pretty badly I think. LOL. Easter was when the old man would get his chicks in the mail. It was the one time that he picked the mail up at the post office. Our play house, 8' X 10' was turned into a chick house with a heat lamp and shade to spread it out, special waterers as baby chicks can be really stupid and fall in. and bags of feed, ground oyster shell, and whatever else they needed. After they were old enough to join the hens in the chicken pen, we'd be spending hours scrubbing and disinfecting the playhouse out so that we could put our toys back in it. Pam S. who remembers the excitement and drudgery of peeper time Shirley, I hope you can find the queen bee still -- I can't imagine getting a hive through the mail! purrs, Christine > > >I didn't realize bees could be mailed! > > > [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > Sherry > DH ordered a new queen bee and it came in today's mail. They come in a > little cage about the size of a small matchbox, with 4 or 5 drones in > with her. > I opened up the package to give her a little water and just laid the > little cage on the bar. I've been outside quite a while, came in and > the papers are on the floor and the little cage is totally gone. Gone. > I can't find it anywhere. I even crept in the bedroom and shook the > covers to see if one of the cats took it in there. > *Somebody* carried it off. Oopsie! Hope you find the bees. And I hope your kitties, naughty as they may be, don't get stung. Joyce |
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