Spelling Bee or Spelling Been?

Checking in with the local news a few days ago, it was cool to read that Baltimore County third-grader Shaheer Iman spelled the word “Fuselage” to win the seventh annual Baltimore Spelling Bee on March 17 at Towson University. He’s now getting ready for the National Spelling Bee on May 30 and 31 in Washington, D.C. You can find the full article here:

Catonsville third-grader wins Baltimore Spelling Bee

As a new and upcoming Beekeeper, I’m now curious about the “Bee” in “Spelling Bee.” Does it have anything to do with Bees? It has to, right? I mean, why else would they use the bee and the hexagonal combs they so carefully weave as the logos for the Scripps National Spelling Bee? A little research on the etymology of the word “Bee” as found in the term “Spelling Bee,” will actually teach one a thing or two on the common American idiom. The Scripps National Spelling Bee webpage actually has a section on the origin of the expression:

The word bee, as used in spelling bee, is one of those language puzzles that has never been satisfactorily accounted for. A fairly old and widely-used word, it refers to a community social gathering at which friends and neighbors join together in a single activity (sewing, quilting, barn raising, etc.) usually to help one person or family.

The earliest known example in print is a spinning bee, in 1769. Other early occurrences are husking bee (1816), apple bee (1827), and logging bee (1836). Spelling bee is apparently an American term. It first appeared in print in 1875, but it seems certain that the word was used orally for several years before that.

Those who used the word, including most early students of language, assumed that it was the same word as referred to the insect. They thought that this particular meaning had probably been inspired by the obvious similarity between these human gatherings and the industrious, social nature of a beehive. But in recent years scholars have rejected this explanation, suggesting instead that this bee is a completely different word.

One possibility is that it comes from the Middle English word bene, which means “a prayer” or “a favor” (and is related to the more familiar word boon). In England, a dialect form of this word, been or bean, referred to “voluntary help given by neighbors toward the accomplishment of a particular task.” (Webster's Third New International Dictionary).

Bee may simply be a shortened form of been, but no one is entirely certain.

So the next time you have some sort of gathering, don’t hesitate naming the activity a “Bee” of some sort. You might be surprised at what new, original trend you may start without even thinking about it.

International Beekeeping

So I’ve been on YouTube these last few days, checking out all sorts of interesting and informative clips on raising bees, installing a hive for the first time, what’s the best way to not get stung, how to feed bees, etc.

A couple of days ago, a friend mentioned that she was watching a Discovery Channel/National Geographic/Animal Planet special (she didn’t really remember what it was) about a specific tribe in Africa that’s been beekeeping for hundreds of years.

That aroused such an intense curiosity, that I decided to look for this African Bee Tribe on YouTube. What I found was an awesome sight indeed: a group of men in Africa that harvests honey by sticking their bare hands into the hearts of tree trunks, who then grab the wild honeycombs from out of the trees while simultaneously smoking the bees with fires made using the original stick-on-stick rubbing method. It was a feat truly fit for hardcore beekeepers



Here’s another clips I found, that was just AMAZING!



And one final, fascinating clips, this time from Nepal



Enjoy!

“Come, and Let us Build up the Wall”

As I mentioned in a previous post, I’m actually not going to be keeping the bees at my home, because I have no place to keep them. I guess I could keep them on the roof, but I don’t think the apartment management would be too happy with that idea. Instead, a friend agreed to let me use the side yard of his house in Baltimore County to house them. So I went to my local Home Depot on Friday after work to buy some cinderblocks and some wood to create the elevated Beehive stand for our prospective beehive location. It was shortly after I bought the materials and arrived at my friend’s house that I realized the real work was just getting started.

Not only was the side of my friend’s house full of dead leaves and broken branches, but it was filled with building material debris, decayed 2x4 planks of wood, 3 fallen tree logs and tons of rusted over pipes. I spent the first 2 hours of the afternoon clearing every bit of that side-yard down to the very barebones dirt floor. I must say, I hadn’t done yard work in a really long time and I’m a bit sore from the pick-axing, raking and lifting. But it was so well worth it! I cleared an approximate 12-foot by 15-foot rectangle area and now it was time to really start setting up.

I called the Maryland Department of Agriculture Friday morning and spoke to Jerry Fisher, Maryland State Apiary Inspector and Vice President of the Maryland State Beekeepers Association. He informed me that Baltimore County zoning regulations mandate that any beehive be kept at least 200 feet from the boundary of the neighboring property. However, if there exists a wall, of at least four feet in height, surrounding the beehive and the beehive is maintained out of the reach of the general public, the 200 foot zoning regulation becomes void.

So, I cleaned and raked the area one final time and began building the walls of newly established “Beehive Corner” with materials I found in my friend’s yard and garage. I grabbed 4 sheets of expandable metal diamond mesh, took 5 of the iron bars, a sledge hammer, some copper wire, a walk-through steel gate and immediately went to work. I hammered the bars deep into the ground, placed the mesh against the bars, wired them together and completely encircled the “Beehive Corner.” It took about an hour and a half to put the whole shebang together and was waaaaaaay better than paying $800 plus labor costs to some guy I know who owns a general construction company. My friend actually had a metal table which I decided to use as the stand for the hive, since it would most likely provide the sturdiest foundation for the hive. I still decided to use the cinder blocks and the wood as a stand for the water source we will be providing the bees. I need to head to Michael’s sometime this week to buy a couple of pieces of styrofoam to act as floaters for the water in the buckets so that the bees don’t drown. Later this week, my friend and I are also going to head back to Home Depot to buy some mulch so that the area’s floor doesn’t remain so bare. That, and some ground cinnamon to sprinkle the area immediately surrounding the hive to drive the ants away (Apparently, ants are repelled and driven away by the scent of cinnamon)

I must say, I’m pretty proud of myself and my work on a Sunday afternoon. I guess you never know what you’re capable of doing until you actually do it. And now I have the bees to thank.

Thank you ladies!

Beekeeping for Dummies

So, you should probably know that I am a Rookie Beekeeper, a Newbie, as the gentleman from the Maryland State Beekeepers Association (MSBA) called me yesterday when I spoke to him over the telephone. That being said, I need a lot of help.

No worries, because asking around, reading what others have posted online, talking to several experienced beekeepers in the area and making a few phone calls really helps. But I must say, if there has been one thing that has really helped me through this time of honest preparation to start beekeeping, it

’

s been a book called

“

Beekeeping for Dummies.

”

At first, I was going to buy it on Amazon.com for $12, but then I

checked on my local library and realized that they had 3 copies available for check-out, so I went ahead and saved myself $12.

After reading the first 10 chapters, I had so many questions which in turn, lead me to so many good, solid and positive answers online and through simple conversations with other beekeepers. If you are really interested, get yourself a copy of this book today! Buy it, borrow it, download it on your e-reader, just find this book. You will be glad you did. First of all, it comes to you with the assumption that you know nothing about beekeeping

(which is true) a

nd guides you through everything you need to buy, the times and seasons of beekeeping, what to do when you introduce your queen, your bees, when the weather changes, how to keep your hive strong and health. Pretty much, it provides you with a crash-course in beekeeping and gives awesome suggestions of what to do in any given situation.

I

’

ve looked at several other books these last 3 weeks and I can honestly say that this book provides the best introduction for the price. Try this book out for yourself and come back and tell me that it didn

’

t provide many good and sound insights into beekeeping. As for me, I

’

m going to give this book a 10; but like Levar Burton used to say in that old show Reading Rainbow:

“

you don't have to take my word for it.

”

It

’

s funny, because as a kid, the Reading Rainbow episode when Levar talked about Bees was one of my favorite episodes as a child. If you

’

re interested, you can see the episode here:

Note: I just got back from ordering my first Queen and package of Italian bees. My girls should be arriving from Georgia on March 29th and I’ll be picking them up on March 30th.

Stayed tuned . . .