"I was ten years old on my grandpa's farm when it happened
After all these years i can still hear grandpa laughin'
As he applied that barnyard remedy
He passed his wisdom down to me
You don't reach for the honey without smokin' the hive

Verse 2: (Clint Eastwood)
I remember my first crush was on the preacher's daughter
We were smoochin' on the front porch swing that night when he caught her
We weren't expectin' him home until quarter past ten
When the good Lord taught me that lesson again
You don't reach for the honey without smokin' the hive

Chorus: (Randy Travis,Clint Eastwood)
You don't point your pistol before you check each chamber
And you don't drink no you don't drink when you drive
It's just ordinary common sense to avoid that danger
You don't reach for the honey without smokin' the hive

Verse 3: (Randy Travis,Clint Eastwood)
She rolled into town with rodeo,she was a beauty
And that cowboy saw you wink at her,she was a cutie
The sound of jinglin' spurs caught me dead on a run
He was fit to be tied and you were under the gun
You don't reach for the honey without smokin' the hive

Chorus: (Randy Travis,Clint Eastwood)
You don't point your pistol before you check each chamber
And you don't drink no you don't drink when you drive
It's just ordinary common sense to avoid that danger
You don't reach for the honey without smokin' the hive

No,you don't reach for the honey without smokin' the hive
You're gonna get stung boy"


Randy Travis - Smokin' The Hive (Lyrics)

 The Humble-Bee  Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)   
BURLY, dozing humble-bee,
Where thou art is clime for me.
Let them sail for Porto Rique,
Far-off heats through seas to seek;
I will follow thee alone,        5
Thou animated torrid-zone!
Zigzag steerer, desert cheerer,
Let me chase thy waving lines;
Keep me nearer, me thy hearer,
Singing over shrubs and vines.        10 
Insect lover of the sun,
Joy of thy dominion!
Sailor of the atmosphere;
Swimmer through the waves of air;
Voyager of light and noon;        15
Epicurean of June;
Wait, I prithee, till I come
Within earshot of thy hum,—
All without is martyrdom. 
When the south wind, in May days,        20
With a net of shining haze
Silvers the horizon wall,
And with softness touching all,
Tints the human countenance
With a color of romance,        25
And infusing subtle heats,
Turns the sod to violets,
Thou, in sunny solitudes,
Rover of the underwoods,
The green silence dost displace        30
With thy mellow, breezy bass.  
Hot midsummer’s petted crone,
Sweet to me thy drowsy tone
Tells of countless sunny hours,
Long days, and solid banks of flowers;        35
Of gulfs of sweetness without bound
In Indian wildernesses found;
Of Syrian peace, immortal leisure,
Firmest cheer, and bird-like pleasure.  
Aught unsavory or unclean        40
Hath my insect never seen;
But violets and bilberry bells,
Maple-sap and daffodels,
Grass with green flag half-mast high,
Succory to match the sky,        45
Columbine with horn of honey,
Scented fern, and agrimony,
Clover, catchfly, adder’s-tongue
And brier-roses, dwelt among;
All beside was unknown waste,        50
All was picture as he passed.  
Wiser far than human seer,
Yellow-breeched philosopher!
Seeing only what is fair,
Sipping only what is sweet,        55
Thou dost mock at fate and care,
Leave the chaff, and take the wheat.
When the fierce northwestern blast
Cools sea and land so far and fast,
Thou already slumberest deep;        60
Woe and want thou canst outsleep;
Want and woe, which torture us,
Thy sleep makes ridiculous.  

"Sitting with the Algeris at their kitchen table, one can get quite an education on the lives of the insects we see buzzing from plant to plant, or from which we cower, afraid of being stung. For the couple, beekeepers in the early 1980s and then again steadily for the past four years, bees are much more than an insect. They’re objects of study.

'There are three kinds of bees,' Lynn Algeri begins her lesson. 'Every hive has one queen. They are the mother to everyone.'

The queen bee, which can live five years, usually only leaves the hive once in her life, to mate. After mating, the queen lays 2,000-3,000 eggs per day, keeping her hive thriving.

It’s said a woman’s work is never done, and it is very much the same for bees.

'The workers are all females. They gather pollen (from up to 3-5 miles away), and they nurse the larvae in the hive and the queen. They also guard the hive.

'The drones are the boys. The only function they have is to mate with the queen. They don’t do anything and don’t even know how to feed themselves.'”


South Euclid couple keep busy as bees with backyard honey business
By Jeff Piorkowski

"Approximately 3 million bees were found swarming around a man's Queens, N.Y., home on Wednesday night, and were confiscated --  to the relief of his neighbors.

Yi Gin Chen had beehives packed into the backyard -- about 45 hives in total, said Andrew Cote, president of the New York City Beekeepers Association. Cote said Chen, a beekeeper in his native China, had contacted the beekeepers' association earlier in the month for help with the bees because he was trying to sell his Corona, Queens, home.

Anthony Planakis, who heads bee control for the NYPD, told The New York Post of Chen's home, 'Picture 45 dogs in one apartment. It’s cruelty to the bees.'

New York City has ramped up its bee-control efforts recently. Earlier this month, Planakis -- who has been fighting stingers since 1995 -- was promoted from officer to detective by NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelley, and granted a 'bee-mobile' and other equipment, The New York Post reported."

3 million bees seized from Queens, N.Y., man's home
By Elizabeth Chuck


I like this Yi Gin Chen character.  The NYPD, on the other hand, should stay out of the beekeeping business.  Cops arrest bad guys, beekeepers handle bees.

"Hi, I found your name online and was wondering if you service... I have a hive on the back of my house that I discovered (unfortunately I didn't know it was there until being stung repeatedly). Please let me know if you can help and any details you need. Thanks."

-Will


Yes, thank you.  The pictures are very helpful.  I can see that those aren't honeybees.  They appear to be some kind of wasp.  I would come out at night with a can of Raid or some kind of wasp/hornet spray and just soak the nest with it.  Then you can knock it down the next day with a broom or rake, anything with a long handle.  That should take care of the problem.

-Billy, The Bees' Knees Bee Removal Services


"Thanks for the feedback. I can take care of the rest. Actually that was my initial plan but I wasn't sure if they were honeybees and didn't want to destroy the nest if that were the case.
Thanks again. For your time."

-Will

"Hi,
I have a daycare out of my home... and we have a bee problem in the front yard that's getting pretty bad. There seems to be multiple holes in the ground that they are coming from but I can't even get close enough to really assess the situation. Do you have any suggestions on how to deal with this? Last night I poured boiling water down what I thought were the two main holes, but this morning they're still there."

-Grant


Hi Grant,
It sounds like yellow-jackets to me.  They usually live in the ground.  Boiling water would only kill the few insects that contacted it. 
A can of Raid Hornet and Wasp Killer sprayed in the hole just after dark may do the trick.  I think they may also have some smoke bomb-type things that you could drop in the hole after dark.  The main thing is to do it after dark when all the bugs are at home and not flying around.  Plus, these colder nights make them less active, so you're less likely to be stung in the process.  They will still come after you though, so be quick and careful.
Multiple entrances may mean multiple nests, so you may have to get each one individually.
Good luck with it.  Let me know if you need more help.

-Billy, The Bees' Knees Bee Removal Services

It's not what you think it is.

"Three people accused of misclassifying Chinese honey as rice fructose in order to avoid more than $1 million in duties have been indicted in federal court on charges related to smuggling goods into the United States and providing false descriptions of the merchandise. Chin Shih 'Jeff' Chou, 48, from Taiwan, Qiao 'Dott"' Chu, 25, from China, and Wei-Tang Lo, 48, from Hacienda Heights, Calif., represented a number of honey importation companies in executing the scheme.

According to an investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the defendants labeled shipping containers filled with Chinese honey as rice fructose instead of honey to avoid a $2.63 per kilo anti-dumping duty. Once the containers of honey passed through customs, they were forwarded to a warehouse, washed of all markings and relabeled as amber honey, which was then sold to domestic purchasers.

Intelligence generated by the investigation so far is leading to thousands of barrels of misclassified honey that have already entered the United States. Many more seizures are expected in the continuing investigation."

3 arrested in Jacksonville honey dumping scheme
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

"In February 2006, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) became aware of a problem concerning adulteration of honey with fluoroquinolones. FDACS collected and analyzed samples of honey for residues of two of the fluoroquinolones of concern, ciprofloxacin and enrofloxacin. The state reported that residues of these antibiotics were found in honey that was traced back to a
firm from the People's Republic of China.

Because of concerns about the presence of fluoroquinolones in the food supply, the U.S. is continuing to develop methods and strategies to detect illegal residues and prevent their introduction into the U.S. food supply.

In 2007, two shipments of products declared and labeled as "blended syrups" were analyzed and found to contain ciprofloxacin. For that reason, in December, 2007, blended syrups were added to this import alert as a product of concern."

Import Alert 36-04
U.S. Food and Drug Administration 10903 New Hampshire Avenue
Silver Spring, MD 20993
Ph. 1-888-INFO-FDA (1-888-463-6332)

"It’s a lemon cuckoo bumble bee, one of the strange cast of characters in the bee world. The cuckoo bee invades colonies, usurps the queen and enslaves her workers.

In fact, the rusty-patched bumble bee, known to scientists as Bombus affinis, is the first bee in North America to be officially declared an endangered species.

Federal Environment Minister Peter Kent added the bee to Canada’s list this summer and federal wildlife advisers warn the bee appears to be on the brink of extinction.

Climate change, pesticides, habitat loss and pathogens are suspects, but no one can say with certainty why it has vanished.
The bee with a distinct orange patch on its abdomen used to forage for pollen and nectar on milkweeds, sunflowers, clovers, berry and fruit blossoms across Southern Ontario and Quebec.

While most people can’t tell one species from another, bumblebees are not interchangeable.

Bombus polaris, which flits around the Arctic pollinating tundra flowers that produce wild berries, has thick pile on its body and can withstand long, dark, sub-zero winters.

The rusty-patched bee was the earliest bee to emerge in the spring in southern Canada and one of the last to stop foraging in the fall. It was also adapt at 'nectar-robbing,' strategically slicing tiny holes in flowers to get at nectar not otherwise reachable with its short tongue, says Colla, who is working on the first field guide to the 42 species of bumble bees in North America.

Unlike honey bees that overwinter in their colonies, bumble bees live from just spring to fall with only queens surviving the winter.

Bumble bee queens emerge in the spring and forage alone for several weeks, replenishing their fat supply 'just like a bear,' says Colla. The queen then makes a nest, often in a rodent burrow, and lays eggs to produce 100 to 200 workers over the summer to take care of the nest and forage for food. In late summer 'new queens and kings' are produced and mate, says Colla. Fertilized new queens go into hibernation while the rest of the bees perish.

Worker bumble bees are common in the summer months and are not much bigger than honey bees. They are usually a combination of black, orange and yellow, unlike honey bees that have brownish bodies, says Colla, who can identify the different species at a glance.

The demise of the rusty-patched bumble bee has been linked to several factors, but the mystery is far from solved.

One suspect is pathogens spread by commercial greenhouse operations that use bumble bees to pollinate tomatoes, cucumbers and other hothouse crops. The commercial bees are allowed to fly in an out of Canadian greenhouses, says Colla, who would like Canada’s hothouse industry to explore keeping its bees inside with screens, as has been proposed in Japan.

Potent pesticides, called neonicotinoids, which are widely used to kill bugs on crops and fleas on domestic pets, may also be associated with the demise of Bombus affinis. Recent European studies suggest the chemicals interfere with bees’ ability to navigate and find their way back to their nests."

To bee or not to bee: Endangered species vanishing without explanation  
By Margaret Munro

" Yellowjackets are often mistaken for bees because they are similar in size and appearance, but are actually wasps. The yellow and black insect crawling on your soda can is likely a yellowjacket, which feeds on sweet-tasting liquids, generally plant sap or nectar from flowers or fruit.

And unlike bees, which are fuzzy and can sting only once, yellowjackets look shiny and can have bad attitudes.

Yellowjackets are social insects and generally live in colonies. They build paper nests underground, in trees or on buildings. When a nest is disturbed, they may attack en masse and inflict enough stings that they can be dangerous to people sensitive to the venom.

They are members of the Vespidae family, which also includes hornets and paper wasps. All build their nests of paper, can sting repeatedly and will defend their homes.

But they are not completely bad guys. They eat other insects, many of which are also agricultural pests, and they pollinate flowers and vegetables."

A bee or not a bee? Hot, dry summer is ideal for stinging insects
By Gloria Wright