I have seen it and it is excellent!! My only complaint is that it was only two episodes.......I would happily have watched many more! Next to my dog, bees are my favorite of all of nature's creatres and learning about their very complex behavior is fascinating

The photography was incredible!!

I have not seen it but appreciate you telling us about it and will at least try to record it.

We attended bee-keeping classes in January. We started keeping a hive last year and had a lot to learn. I hopw we retain a lot of the info, as it is more complex to be a beekeeper than many think. The interesting ’bee facts’ we learned was incredible. Thankfully the course material is accessible online so we can refer to it.

Somebody in the neighborhood offered their beekeeping equipment, and we went to get it. Ready to clean it up... we went no further. It is incredibly complicated. You're very right Outside!

I am looking forward to it. I like stuff like that. My sister has several beehives, and is always adding more. People call her when they get those strange bee swarms on their fruit trees. She goes to get them and puts them in a hive. She gets loads of honey! I do not like honey but am fond of bees. My neighbor has bee hives that are pretty close to my house. He owns the wooded area around my home and keeps them sort of "in the wild". He asked me not to spray my flowers or trees with anything that would harm his bees. And of course, I would never. I need his bees for my fruits and veggies!

We kept bees for 25 years. One day, a swarm entered an antique barrel on my porch. I always wanted bees, and they came to me. My husband's boss was a beekeeper and got us equipment, and we were off and running. I loved these bees, but later we were losing hives in the winter and having to start all over again every spring, and we gave it up. We still have jars of honey, and I miss these sweet little girls. I was never stung, and my clothesline ran right beside the hive, and they were fine with me standing there hanging up clothes.

We had bees here for several years. An aquaintance kept bees and was always looking for someplace to put hives. He took advantage though and put in way more hives than he had said and they were also more aggressive than advertised. twenty five vs five sort of thing, There are different strains of bees some more aggressive than others. I could tell if his hives were healthy by the smell of the hive and he could not. Bees can have a lot of issues especially these days. I enjoyed them and the sound was nice but my DH is bee sensitive and I was stung one day just standing around our shop not doing a thing. We were quite a way from the hives. It seemed prudent to move them out.

Interesting show.

Not with great priority or concern but at times when buying shrubs or flowers, when one is described as attracting bees, we tend to make other choices. We do like ones that attract hummingbirds.

Does having beehives in your yard mean that there are more bees around when walking around the yard, or sitting on the deck/ patio to relax or eat, etc?

only if you put flowers in your hair

Bees are so gentle unless you are harassing them. As I said, I had a hive for 25 years, but don't anymore. But someone near me does, as I saw a street-side little stand with jars of honey for sale. And I do see bees in my many birdbaths, especially in hot weather. If they fall in the water, I always reach my finger in and let them sit on my hand till they dry off. I haven't been stung in so long I can't remember.

I'm not sure what constitutes harassing them (from the bee's standpoint) but I wonder why I've experienced many instances of people getting stung by a bee that seemed to just land on them and then sting them. Myself included. Is there more to know or maybe it's not entirely as you describe?

Elmer, not necessarily because bees will travel quite far to find nectar and water sources. But i have noticed a few more, especially around some nectar plants, than we had before we started a hive last year. It has been estimated that a bee will travel approx 90,000 miles to make 1 lb of honey. And they generally will travel up to 3-5 miles from their hive to find nectar sources.

@amylou321 and for anyone thinking about starting, I highly recommend searching for a local organized Beekeeping Group. Many counties have them and they are often associated with a county agriculture agent. Our local group is quite large. They offer the classes once/year in January to get new people prepared to start their hives in the spring. We had one in-person class that took most of a Saturday, then 4 more 2-hour classes done via Zoom. Signing up for the course also gave us membership to the group for a year and access to their website that contained all the class material covered. They also offer mentors for those who want a knowledgeable person to call and consult when they have questions or issues. The group often does specific demonstrations that are open to the public, or sets up an info booth at some fairs, etc.

Also FYI, a few years ago, the Univ of Georgia started a ’Great Pollinator Count’. It is something everyine can participate in, and is done for 3 days (Fri-Sun) in Aug. Participants now students and any volunteers from almost all SE states and include SC, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and for the first time this year, Tennessee. It only takes a few minutes each day (more if you are open to doing so). It’s too much to explain here but there are FB and other sites with details, and i can send a link if desired to more info and how to get started.

@lily316, if you add a simple stack of rocks on one side of hour birdbath, it helps the bees to have a spot to land without drowning. I had a some small-medium size (small egg size approx) smooth river rocks i had left over from some other project a while back and stacked about 10-12 in mine.

I've experienced many instances of people getting stung by a bee that seemed to just land on them and then sting them.

Depends on the type of bee. Or perhaps one is not aware of the significant dfferences between bees and hornets/wasps. Most bees tend to be non-aggressive and will not sting unless they feel threatened (harassed?). Wasps and hornets can be extremely aggressive and can and do sting without provocation.

Wasps and hornets for the most part also do not tend to be nectar or pollen feeders as bees are and therefore are not heavy pollenators with little interest in flowers. Including flowering plants in your gardens that DO attract pollenators does not increase the risk of being stung unless the plants are sited where they - and the bees - may be overly disturbed.

Somebody - EJF - needs to watch this show.......and learn!!

@outside...I do have small river rocks in each birdbath, but occasionally one will need help.

I am strictly talking about honeybees, Elmer. There are many bee varieties, and some may sting. Honeybees die when they sting, so maybe that's why they are so gentle. As I said part of my clothesline was a few inches from the hive, and I was never stung.

I’ve watched the program. They’re fascinating. I didn’t know they could dance. I’ve never been stung by a bee in my yard, but hornets and wasps.

Following suggestions made above, I turned on the two episodes linked.

I don't generally like nature or animal programs and these were no exception. I tried quick forwarding to maybe find sections that I would find interesting. That served to get me to the end of the second one after about 20 minutes in total.

Not my thing. My take away from this conversation is confirmation that there are bees that sting. My practice of trying to avoid them (without fear or paranoia) is reasonable. There may be types that don't sting but lacking any interest in learning more about them to identify types, a generalization to avoid them works fine.

Yes, I do know the differences between a bee and a wasp. Perhaps one doesn't realize that comment was unnecessary

There are many strains of honey bees. The choice on the part of the beekeeper can be hardiness, productivity, personality and so on. Some strains do better with dry hot or damp chilly and so on. They have perfered foods as well. Everyone must remember the panic over Africanized bees. They are more agressive and territorial that most European honey bees who have been selected for centuries for their placid nature. The Itallinate honey bee is the gold standard for easy going laid back, good natured productive bees. I was told by said friend that we would get that kind but as it turned out not actually. Really good honey. I had an employee years ago who raised bees with his father in the Appalachian's and they separated their honey by source. Sourwood is very light and fragrant, and Balsam is dark and tastes very like light molasses only even better.

Bees dance to communicate. They are sharing information with their sisters.

Honey bees are introduced by the way. They are not native. We do have native bees but they do not hive and produce honey. There are thousands of kinds.

Interesting bee story, I was driving down the Blue Ridge parkway once with the window open and an enormous bumble hit the mirror and fell in the window. That was one seriously angry bee. It repeatedly stabbed its stinger into thankfully a light jacket I had in my lap. I picked up the jacket and tossed it out the window and went back to retrieve it sans bee. I have "picked" bumble bees while dead heading dahlias but they would take it in stride. It takes a lot to piss off a bumble bee.

I love bumble bees almost as much as honey bees. I did not know that honey bees are not native. Other than the sweet docile honey bees and the good disposition of the bumblebee that I go out of my way to rescue, I avoid all others.

I remember people getting into beekeeping to save the bees. I’m shocked at how many here did it! And then I rememver reading that this was counterproductive because non-native honey bees compete with native bees for food and can wipe them out. Today I read that it’s ok to keep some bees as long as there’s plenty of flowers, but limit how many hives you have. I guess it’s like eggs, we’ll wait to see what ”they” say tomorrow. In the meantime it seems the agreed-upon best thing you can do for pollinators is plabt flowers and not spray them.

As for stings, I’ll believe everyone’s stories but will say that I don’t recall ever experiencing an unprovoked sting, whether, bee, hornet, or wasp, first hand or second-hand. My reaction to people franticalky shooing them away is, ”Are you trying yo get stung?”

My take away from this conversation is confirmation that there are bees that sting.

Of course there are bees that sting!! But they do not sting without provocation. If one had taken the time to properly watch the program in its entirety, that would be the correct takeaway.

I am constantly amazed at the self-righteous and very ego-centric attitudes and opinions of some posters who, despite all the scientific evidence to the contrary, insist on maintaining opinions that are blatantly incorrect.

Giving one the benefit of the doubt prompted the comment about the distinction of wasps and hornets from bees. I apparently gave more credit than what was due.

" Bees almost never sting for no reason. Stinging is a defensive, last-resort mechanism because it costs the bee its life. If you are stung, it is usually because the bee felt threatened by a perceived attack on its hive, or because you unintentionally squished, stepped on, or startled it. "

Your self-righteousness and egocentric attitude is to not accept my opinion that differs from yours. Look in the mirror and hold your insults.

I'll provoke you jokingly - I don't like gardening either. I think people who waste time doing such things are foolish or are lacking more meaningful interests to pursue.

I half believe that but you know what, live and let live. If you like communing with nature, good for you. I don't. We have opposite preferences and both are right - for ourselves. What you like and dislike doesn't hurt me and vice-versa.

I cant remember the variety of honey bee that we ended up with here. Like I said some strains of bees are more aggressive and will take exception to you territorially as Africanized bees do in spades. Some other place other than Italy in Europe is all I can say. I seem to remember some monastery or other. Very productive bees or maybe they were more damp chill hardy. I dont know. I know I was gratuitously stung by this particular bee. I had spent plenty of time around the hives with no problems. The only other times I was ever stung was stepping on them with bare feet in clover patches as a kid. In my family a bee sting was nothing to make a fuss about. Being stung on the temple hurts but I was more concerned by my sting sensitive DH. He hasn't been stung since he was a child but two stings could potentially be fatal.

Bees are probably not aware that they will die if they sting you. It pulls their insides out of them by the way, not just the stinger. I think bees are business focused and it would not occur to them to attack you. Native bees are similarly placid. I have never had one of them even buzz me in a meaningful way.