Damn, that is not how we are here. Wow, another image I want to bleach away! (Not saying it does not happen, just can’t imagine the mindset that would lead to that.)
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Quick question. I had my suspicions (partially based on a certain subset of my fellow Texans) and maybe I’m wrong and you’re right. But you seem pretty certain. May I ask why you’re so confident it was beekeepers? No rancor, just curious.
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85 hives destroyed, as in the article you cited, would be about 4 millions bees if we wanted to write a sensationalist title to let people believe it was eco-terrorism… just saying😇
A professional beekeeper would own at least 500 hives in the USA and often a lot more. The regrettable incident discussed in this thread concerns at most 20 colonies. Can everybody please calm down?
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The hives were tossed around. Some frames were found in a nearby pound. It is not a matter of someone setting fire and run, it was someone opening the hives, tossing them around, throwing frames away and then setting fire (you don’t stay to destroy hives in the middle of a bush fire).
Nobody would open several hives and remove the frames without being versed in bees and having proper protection, hence a beekeeper.
There are other details, like the destroyed nuclei, but explaining that is a bit involved and is is late where I live.
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No worries. Thanks for the explanation.
I mean, I’m calmly looking forward to their capture and prosecution. As for the sensationalist use of the word terrorist, I wouldn’t but when it comes to the media and others doing it, sadly that ship sailed eighteen years ago. I know the media isn’t going to stop, but I’ll gladly join you in disappointment about the fact for all the good it won’t do.
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I think this is a good point. I doubt bored teenagers (for example) or angry neighbors would go out of their way to expose themselves to the bees before destroying them.
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It’s not the scale that has me upset. It’s the symbolic nature of what bees represent and what kind of person would do something like this.
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They may toss a hive, I have seen that. The would not toss the second one and certainly would not set fire to the tossed combs. People who don’t know bees would be genuinely surprised when they find out how many of them are in a single hive at this time of the year and even the gentlest bees would remember that they evolved long ago the capacity of attacking en masse when circumstances command it.
What is actually most surprising in this event is that someone set fire to combs tossed on the ground. That is uncommon. Possibly the reason for the destruction is not what we think.
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That is even better and if you can do that, go for it. I was more thinking about the members living in cities who need a simple solution. Kitchen herbs can be bought easily, need little space and little water (except mint or pesto, of course) and flower a long time. They attract a surprisingly large amount of pollinators.
And you can use them for cooking. Win-win.
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I may have just been lucky, but the first bee keeper I asked wanted to put a hive on my roof. I’m in a city though, so I’d imagine they have a harder time finding locations for hives. For whatever it’s worth we didn’t jump through any hoops, though of course there may have been a few that we ignored. A hive can be pretty low profile, it doesn’t have to be a big white box sitting out in the open. Having a hive is a lot of fun and you should really do it if you have interest! Fair warning though, you’ll be eating a lot of fresh delicious honey comb…
So is beehiving that competative? Or is the mob getting involved?
“Ey, oh, he’s gonna be sleeping in the spiders web, if you catch my meaning.”
That hints at another possibility: Arson for profit?
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Boiling rage, boiling. I can’t properly narrate the feelings of disgust for this person[s].
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And rudbeckias, coneflowers, penstemon, and this stuff (all these NA natives are pretty drought-resistant/low-maintenance/self-seeding, too):
https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=d554
Sunflowers, too; they’re easy to grow, and have huge f-off flowers that the bugs love (some native bugs prefer yellow flowers).
With this stuff, you really do get native bees and honeybees, amazing solitary wasps, hummingbird moths, butterflies, and hummingbirds, and then other birds there for the bugs and the seeds.
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Police have put out a notice for this individual, who is known to
have a longstanding vendetta against the victims:
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This was Texas. What do you expect?
Perhaps it was vikings?
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