Allotments 4 All
General => News => Topic started by: Squash64 on February 09, 2010, 14:31:46
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One of our Bangladeshi plotholders read the notice I put up about the bee meeting next Sunday and asked me how we planned on getting rid of the bees. Spraying? :o
I did my best to explain that bees were good and we want them on the allotments, I hope he understood.
It just goes to show that there is still quite a lot of ignorance out there. My own brother-in-law (Italian) thinks that bees are bad and can't understand why we want to encourage them.
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Wow, that's bizarre!
However, if anyone is anti-bee for any reason - I have stacks of seeds for an African Marigold which is double and therefore uninteresting to larger bees - it must get pollinated by the teeny ones that you barely notice unless you look really hard, or some other tiny fly or wasp. People with an anaphylactic allergy to bee stings may want them, I'm growing some for a friend for that exact reason. Ping me if you'd like seeds. :)
Otherwise, it's all pro-bee here, I'm have been given calendula and marigold seeds by lots of kind peeps and I'm hoping for bee-heaven in my garden this year!
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Yes Betty, I too am looking forward to the bee talk so I can find out how to get rid of them too...crease! :o ;D
You are right, still lots of ignorance out there, quite frightening really. You'd think everyone makes the same connections but sadly not.
I watched a programme last year about the plight of bees and the impact that the loss of our bees would have. I had nightmares for weeks afterwards. :(
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be interesting to know why they think bees are bad... what is their viewpoint? may be good to understand...
mat
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They're both from countries with a tradition of beekeeping or bee hunting (I think they do both in Bangladesh) so it'll just be their individual reaction. They've probably never had the chance to learn anything about bees.
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I can't speak for the Bangladeshi plotholder but my brother in law thinks that all bees do is sting people. He doesn't eat honey so that wouldn't appeal to him.
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okay, so if there is no specific reason for them hating the bees (apart from the stings, which for some people (like my mum) can be life threatening...) then education may help - re: pollination, etc, which we in the UK rely on (they may have had other insects to carry out this act for them!)
It's good to understand their viewpoint, so you can place a counter argument as required ;D
mat
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May there be a language problem here? The Pakistani and Bangladeshi families I used to work with used 'bee' for anything buzzing around, be they flies, bees, wasps, and for the children, even a ladybird in flight. As usual, education is the key.......
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May there be a language problem here? The Pakistani and Bangladeshi families I used to work with used 'bee' for anything buzzing around, be they flies, bees, wasps, and for the children, even a ladybird in flight. As usual, education is the key.......
The Bangladeshi man did look a bit puzzled as he read the poster so I took him over to a photo of a bee which was on the noticeboard. But he still thought we were going to kill them!
Hopefully he will come to the meeting on Sunday.
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:o :o If bees become extinct man would only survive a few years afterwards, according to Einstein.
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My OH works in a nursery, and one day she came home and asked `Ladybirds are good insects ain't they?`
I said yes, and asked why, appaerntly her boss had been telling the children that ladybirds are nasty, they bite and if you see one you should squash it.
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It depends where the bees are. If they made a home in my shed or under my decking I'd have something to say (or rather spray!) about it...
Sounds like it might be a language/culture thing though, in hot countries there are a lot of disease-carrying creepy crawlies and buzzing things!
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:o :o If bees become extinct man would only survive a few years afterwards, according to Einstein.
It's a good quote, but Einstein never seems to have said it! If all pollinators became extinct, we'd be in real trouble. If honeybees disappeared, there would be problems, but there are plenty of other pollinators out there.
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My OH works in a nursery, and one day she came home and asked `Ladybirds are good insects ain't they?`
I said yes, and asked why, appaerntly her boss had been telling the children that ladybirds are nasty, they bite and if you see one you should squash it.
:o :o :o :o How awful-we teach the kids about 'mini-beasts' which includes all insects. It's amazing how many under 5's think "kill first ask questions later!"
I once said to a litle girl "Oh look, a caterpillar" to which she promptly stamped on it. ;D
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I fear that 'I'm a Celebrity, Get me Out of Here' is making things worse, too - using insects only for the 'ugh' factor. A revolting way to treat wildlife, as Germaine Greer has pointed out. Yes I know she's pretty batty, but she does come out with lots of interesting points as well... :)
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I fear that 'I'm a Celebrity, Get me Out of Here' is making things worse, too - using insects only for the 'ugh' factor. A revolting way to treat wildlife, as Germaine Greer has pointed out. Yes I know she's pretty batty, but she does come out with lots of interesting points as well... :)
I can't understand how they get away with treating the creatures like that. When Gino Dacampo killed and cooked a rat, he was threatened with prosecution but the contestants are given live grubs to eat. Doesn't make any sense to me.
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My OH works in a nursery, and one day she came home and asked `Ladybirds are good insects ain't they?`
I said yes, and asked why, appaerntly her boss had been telling the children that ladybirds are nasty, they bite and if you see one you should squash it.
What a shame. :(
I'm sure that everyone on allotments knows how good ladybirds are, but how many recognise the larvae?
[attachment=1]
I didn't have a clue when I first saw one because they look a bit strange and not like a ladybird.
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:o :o If bees become extinct man would only survive a few years afterwards, according to Einstein.
Einstein died out years ago. What did he know?
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Ahh thats what they are Betty, I had loads of these on the plot last year and didn't have a scooby what they were.
My five year old knows Bees are good insects and understands pollenating but is wary of them, she loves worms and will pick them up and she knows to stick her foot on a snail if she see's one in the garden. ;D ;D ;D
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I wonder if he thinks theyre a wild hive somewhere and therefore a problem. ???
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A revolting way to treat wildlife, as Germaine Greer has pointed out. Yes I know she's pretty batty, but she does come out with lots of interesting points as well... :)
I adore her. ;D
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Sigh...never made it to the talk-I hope it was a success and informative for all. I'll be at the cream tea with bells on though!
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Emmy, looking forward to meeting you at the Plant Sale and Cream Tea on May 15th.
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We will definitely be there for that Betty, Look forward to meeting you Emmy
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How can you grow stuff and not know bees are good for plants? ::)
Probably the best thing about our impoverished site is that one plot is taken by a bee keeper, so the place is full of them just at the right time. I'm allergic to bee and wasp stings, but haven't been stung at the lottie yet...
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I have a friend whose mother is a "keen gardener". She had a bird table without food on it. That would encourage birds, & she doesn't want birds in her garden. She doesn't want frogs or insects either ::) ::) ::). She is also a fanatical cleaner round the house, perhaps that explains it :(.
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A lot of people are really ignorant about wildlife, but I've never come across anyone on my site who's been anti-bee. Maybe I've been lucky.
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Thanks for posting the larvae info. I never realised that's what they are.
Is May 15th your open day? I must have missed when you posted it.
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Thanks for posting the larvae info. I never realised that's what they are.
Is May 15th your open day? I must have missed when you posted it.
May 15th is our Plant Sale and Cream Tea in aid of Macmillan. The Summer Fayre is on August 14th.
I will be posting reminders nearer the date.
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I would like to visit both please.
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I would like to visit both please.
Brilliant! I look forward to meeting you. :)
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I'm really happy that my plot is only a couple down from "Emma the Beekeeper" on our site... if nothing else I seemed to have pretty solid pollination of things like beans and peas, plus the squash harvest can't be just down to my occasional attempts at manually doing it....
chrisc
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Funnily enough I have rarely seen real honey bees on my plot, but always lots of bumble bees (the big furry ones), which funnily enough don't bother me so much, I think because they are so easy to spot. I am absolutely terrified of bees! But even so i know how beneficial they are so I always plants flowers to encourage them, and sometimes let brassicas go to flower, they seem to attract lots of insects at the end of the season!!
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Oh don't bee ;D, you see bees only sting if they feel threaten, as if they do sting they die. Honey bee sting has tiny barbs which will stick into you skin and the whole botton will be ripped out of them.
Wasps stings are smooth and as they do not stick they are able to repeat the sting.
Many bee species do not have stings at all....note, often those found nesting under shed floors, so they are not bother...
Part from Honey bees, all others will be gone from they small nest by autumn anyway....so if you get some new neighbours (bees)tis summer leave them bee...if you do not bother them they do not bother you ;D