Dear friends, this 80+ year-old sugar-honey-sir has more enthusiasm and energies than all of us put together!

Cindy the nature-lover beekeeper, how many bees are there in an average beehive? Also, does bees get sick? And, do they die in their hives?

Be sweet, Namaste

Hey Guys, The smoke and bees.  The smoke actually masks the pheromone alarm that bees produce when their hive is being disturbed.  Which in turn allows the beekeeper to go into the hive with greater ease, because this alarm is what sends the message to the bees to attack and destroy the predator.  Bees will not only sting you.  Sometimes I have to wear very thick gloves because the heat that the bees produce is very hot and is worse than the sting itself.  When predators get inside the colony, say a yellow jacket or sometimes small mice, they don't stand a chance. 

Ystan,  How many bees in a colony??....THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS.  Last summer I had a swarm of bees in my bee yard. It's amazing to watch.  I'll post a picture below of a tree limb that is covered in bees so you can get an idea.  We think this was a swarm from another beekeeper down the road trying to find a way into my bee yard.  I was thinking about retreiving these bees from the tree, but it was over 60 feet high.  I don't like to climb that high. 

Yes, bees do get sick.  They can get dysentary, they can get Foulbrood, they can get trachael mites and varoa mites which will wipe out an entire colony if not monitored and treated properly.  They also are subjected to Small Hive Beetles which can take over weak colonies.  Yes, there is such a thing as a 'dead out', where the colony basically dies for whatever reason that is going on.  Sometimes the entire colony can leave the hive, or they can do small swarms which are natural for bees because this is how they manage their population.  For instance, if a beehive gets too many bees, they will make a virgin queen, then the old queen leaves with some bees leaving the virgin queen behind.  That is why being a beekeeper, it is important to manage your bees.  This is how you produce honey and maintain your hives.  It's not that difficult if you like bees and understand what needs to be done.  In the wild, it is very hard for bees to survive.  Their life span is much shorter.  Mostly due to environmental causes, from pesticide spraying and lack of areas to nest in, which is why honeybees find old homes or in the case of India/Nepal, in walls of homes.  That happens very frequently here in the states too.  That is a beekeepers dream,

(A Swarm of Bees #1.JPG)

A Swarm of Bees #1.JPG (72KB - 63 downloads)

Cindy, have I made you very busy counting the number of bees in the beehives?  Jokes aside, thank you very much for your firsthand information on beekeeping; while I am one where a bee is enough to disturb me, you live with Thousands of bees in peace and harmony (I bet you don't quarrell with the bees), and that is amazing . Namaste

Good Morning Ystan,

I lost track of the count after about 300....it's too much work cause everybody looks the same and unfortunately, I was probably counting double, maybe even triple,

No, never quarrell with the bees.  

One more thing about what to do around bees.  First of all, when bees are swarming, they will not sting you.  They have something different on their minds.  I tell people to just stand very still, do not move when they are being approached by a swarm of bees or happen to walk up in the midst of a swarm.  This is really the best way. NEVER swat at bees, any bee.  Don't drink you chai with honey while standing outside near beehives or bees' nests.  They will want some too, trust me  

Also, when in nature, don't wear nice perfume and/or essential oil blends, as that will always get their attention...they will think you are a flower with nectar in it.  Just remember that honey bees are very good for our environment, so please do not spray ugly pesticides, because they can carry it back to the hive and kill everyone.  If you see honeybees in your backyard pool or in your hummingbird feeder, don't worry they won't stay long, they just like your place and need a drink of water.

Dear Cindy, I had thought with 1 bee I stay still, but with a swarm of bees I should run for my life, and 50m is all I need to run, as bees cannot fly too far, they have little stamina!! Let's imagine a swarm of bees coming my way..and I stay still.. and one bee decides to "kiss" me.. and I  ...that would not be a nice picture!  On another thought, I can go into savasana, still and motionless, is this a better alternative?  Namaste

Good Afternoon Tssundaram,

Your asking me how to make Methi Tea???  I'm so surprised.  This is what I use at the very beginning of a cold/or flu (it will make you sweat when a fever is present) or when my joints are sore from doing too much Hot Bikram Yoga,   Methi is also good for dysentary and is good for women who are feeding babies breast milk, it purifies the milk and strengthens a woman after giving childbirth.

There are a couple of ways to do this. You can simply steep several Methi seeds in Boiling Water, then drink as a tea.  Or you can dry out the seeds and leaves, then make a powder, using a Mortar.  Then make tea out of the powder.  We use Methi in most of our cooking vegetable dishes, especially when cooking green leafy vegetables.

Another interesting aspect of Methi is that it is capable of repelling insects.  In your country it is fed to cows and horses.  I wonder if I can try it on my horse this summer if the flies get bad??