One of the books I'm reading about beekeeping was originally published in 1853 and was written by Rev. L. L. Langstroth, who is considered to be the "Father of American Beekeeping." He was a pastor in Massachusetts and redesigned the beehive so that frames could be removed, which made manipulating the hive without enraging the bees possible. His design is still in use today and the basis for my hives.
The book is great. I love reading old texts and realizing that he probably knew more about bees in the 1830s than many authors know about them now. The language is also wonderful. Here is a passage where Langstroth quotes from an earlier text on the ANGER OF BEES:
"Listen to the words of an old writer:- If thou wilt have the favour of thy bees, that they sting thee not, thou must avoid such things as offend them: thou must not be unchaste or uncleanly; for impurity and sluttiness (themselves being most chaste and neat) they utterly abhor; thou must not come among them smelling of sweat, or having a stinking breath, caused either through eating of leeks, onions, garlick, and the like, or by any other means, the noisomeness whereof is corrected by a cup of beer; thou must not be given to surfeiting or drunkenness; thou must not come puffing or blowing unto them, neither hastily stir among them, nor resolutely defend thyself when they seem to threaten thee; but softly moving thy hand before thy face, gently put them by; and lastly, thou must be no stranger unto them."
Not wanting to elicit the wrath of my bees, I will try not to be slutty and will drink a cup of beer before every inspection.
This is my favorite. With this sound advice, we can expect that no future post is titled "Wrath of My Bees," which is probably good even though that would be an awesome title for a blog post.
ReplyDeleteI also hope to avoid ever having to report on the "Wrath of My Bees."
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