Queen of the Sun

In case you didn't know yesterday, May 29th, was the day of the honey bee. A nation wide lobby is pushing to get this day recognized in as many provinces and municipalities as possible, and so far they are doing a pretty good job. As part of the celebrations Metro Cinema, in partnership with Lola Canola Honey, brought the documentary "Queen of the Sun" to Edmonton. Yesterday was the first screening, but there are 4 more. 7pm and 9pm, on May 30th and 31st. I would highly recommend that anyone with any level of interest in honey bees, or the plight of the honey bee go see this movie.

As for my personal thoughts on the movie, it did a very good job of touching base on all the things a person, who knows nothing about bees, should know about honey bees. It interviews a wide range of people from all over the world who are directly, or indirectly, affected by Colony Collapse Disorder. Noting that I am not, or never will be, a film critic I did find some of the cinematography off. There were also a few sections and cuts that seemed to be a bit out of place or off topic, but generally the flow of the movie was OK. The only other criticism I would have, and this may differ depending on who you talk to, was that most of the people they had tended to skew more to the Hippie side of things, for lack of a better word. Yes, I acknowledge that because of how honey bees are so closely intertwined with the very essence of nature there will be more than a few hippies, tree huggers, and environmentalists preaching the virtues of the bees. However, with the exception of one bloke in London most of the urban beekeepers came off on the extreme end of the scale, and even he was a bit eccentric but then again you do have to be a bit eccentric to become a beekeeper.

I was hoping to see more about the average person who falls in love with the bees once they are exposed to a hive for the first time. A teacher, a lawyer, or a child; people who don't necessarily practice yoga and eat only whole grains and vegetables. A powerful message that screams out that bees aren't dangerous and if you just stopped for a minute, allowing your childhood fear to melt away into the peaceful humming of an busy apiary on warm summer's day, you too could fall in love with these insects.

SO GO! See for yourself and find that love! There are 4 more screenings. Check out these links for more info. It is being shown downtown at the Citadel Theaters in Ziedler Hall.

METRO CINEMA

LOLA CANOLA HONEY

The Andrenids are amoung us!

Two weeks ago my wife and I were outside getting our vegetable garden prepped and seeded. While I was puttering around I noticed what I thought to be a few honey bees buzzing around. However, their behavior was very odd. They were slowly flying around the ground, occasionally landing to walk around a bit before taking off again. I began watching intently as my curiosity peaked. Laying on my stomach I followed the progress of one of these insects, as I landed in front of me I noticed that it was very close in appearance to a honey bee. The differences were subtle, while the head looked like a honey bee and it still had a fuzzy thorax, the hair was reddish yellow in colour, the abdomen was shiny jet black and smooth much like a fly. Another thing I noticed was that they were almost silent during flight, many times flying over my head without a sound. After a few minutes of observation, I noticed that one of the bees had permanently landed and was starting digging a hole into the dirt. Most curious. I ran inside to get my google on.

My instincts were right! It was a solitary species of bee native to Alberta. The Andrenid Bee, also known as "mining bees". These bees will dig a nest so they can lay an egg. They will then forage for pollen which they can stock up around the egg. Once there is enough food for the egg, the female will seal up the entrance and leave. While considered a solitary species, usually there will be many nests in close proximity giving the appearance of a colony.

This leaves me in a bit of a dilemma because the bees have setup home in the clay I placed around my house last year to grade. I had planned on compacting it and laying some topsoil and sod...can I do that now? Decisions, decisions.

Here are some pictures of the nests and bees. They took me a while to get and I bet my neighbours thought I was a bit nuts crawling around my front yard military style with camera in hand.


One of many burrows.


Bee inside a burrow, if you look closely you can see her face.


Posing for her close up.

Lazy Days

Hey Folks,

Just a quick update to let everyone know that I will be posting a few posts in the coming days. I've been a bit lazy in getting pictures off my camera and have lots to show everyone.

Everything from the new Top Bar hives that my friend and I have built and more recently installed a package of bees into, to my new local friends the Andrenid bees.

Be sure to check back soon.