Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: Highlandsfreedom on May 14, 2009, 01:48:08 pm

Title: Public misunderstanding
Post by: Highlandsfreedom on May 14, 2009, 01:48:08 pm: I feel its vital to get out the news on the differance of bees and wasps. There are too many people who dont know the differance between a bee hive and a wasp hive!!! But I bet the guys who do alot of swarm catching know this already. Its just frusterating needed to vent.
Title: Re: Public misunderstanding
Post by: bmacior on May 14, 2009, 02:03:30 pm: Public education negates public mistunderstandings. My Association developed an informative tri-fold brochure about honey bees, with one section devoted to "not all stinging insects are bees" with pictures of a honey bee, wasp, and wasp nest. :)

Barb
Title: Re: Public misunderstanding
Post by: Highlandsfreedom on May 14, 2009, 02:12:17 pm: We need more organizations like yours!! Keep up the great work.
Title: Re: Public misunderstanding
Post by: Robo on May 14, 2009, 02:27:45 pm: At least honeybees have us to help educate. Wasps also get a bad wrap because people don't know the difference between wasp, yellow jackets and hornets. For the most part, at least around here, wasp are beneficial, not aggressive, and kill nuisance bugs like ants, flies, and mosquitoes.

I handle removals of all types and try to educate the folks as much as they are willing. Carpenter bees and bumblebees are another point of confusion. You know how many calls I get for bumblebees flying around gutters :? People seem to group everything together and allow the yellow jacket and hornet represent them all.
Title: Re: Public misunderstanding
Post by: Eshu on May 14, 2009, 04:55:51 pm: A couple weeks ago our local bee club had a table at a garden fair. We had a small display with a queen, worker, and drone mounted next to a bumblebee and yellow jacket. Many were interested, but then they were avid gardeners generally.

Yes education can help, but there are a lot of people out there with no curiousity or interest...
Title: Re: Public misunderstanding
Post by: Highlandsfreedom on May 14, 2009, 05:45:18 pm: Yes education can help, but there are a lot of people out there with no curiousity or interest...
[/quote]

And isnt that just sad.......
Title: Re: Public misunderstanding
Post by: Rebel Rose Apiary on May 14, 2009, 05:57:41 pm: I get calls all of the time about bumbles....and a few yellow jackets! They sware they are honey bees! One colony of 'known honey bees' was ID'd by a school teacher...a biology teacher at that....well, they were not honey bees when I got there....amazing how they morphed into something else before I got there!

I asked for pictures of the honey bees before....got a good shot of one lone Italian looking worker on a flower sent to me....drove over an hour to get there....bumbles! They seen the lone bee on the flower and swore it was the same as in the eave of the house! :roll:

One thing I learned about the public in general, is that they KILL what they do not understand or things that they fear....more than once I have arrived for a removal to find out they had sprayed insect killer on the bees... :-x

NOw I tell them before I leave the house, if they spray they PAY! :evil:

I think that starting with the school kids and putting on a little show for them with real live bees is the best. I have to take a few frames to a school....I did a removal about a week ago and they made a video of it and it was shown to a class at the school. Now I have been asked to come over and bring some bees if I wanted to...this should be fun! ;)

Brenda
Title: Re: Public misunderstanding
Post by: jeremy_c on May 14, 2009, 08:06:01 pm: Quote from: bmacior on May 14, 2009, 02:03:30 pm
Public education negates public mistunderstandings. My Association developed an informative tri-fold brochure about honey bees, with one section devoted to "not all stinging insects are bees" with pictures of a honey bee, wasp, and wasp nest. :)

Is such a brochure available on the Internet in PDF form or something like that?
Title: Re: Public misunderstanding
Post by: doak on May 14, 2009, 08:19:26 pm: And there is that % that, ( if it stings) that's enough and they could care less.
Sorry that is as far as I can go. :)doak
Title: Re: Public misunderstanding
Post by: slaphead on May 14, 2009, 10:52:30 pm: Is such a brochure available on the Internet in PDF form or something like that?

Yes, go to beeculture.com.

They have a poster for download.

SH
Title: Re: Public misunderstanding
Post by: SgtMaj on May 15, 2009, 02:56:27 am: Quote from: bmacior on May 14, 2009, 02:03:30 pm
Public education negates public mistunderstandings. My Association developed an informative tri-fold brochure about honey bees, with one section devoted to "not all stinging insects are bees" with pictures of a honey bee, wasp, and wasp nest. :)

Barb

Have they distributed it to the public though? My guess is that the people who don't know the difference aren't going to be stopping by a beek club meeting anytime soon.
Title: Re: Public misunderstanding
Post by: jeremy_c on May 15, 2009, 11:30:37 am: I think us beeks should keep some on hand and give them to our friends, or people who visit and share any type of interest. If you pollinate for anyone, ask them to put a few copies at their road side stand... But yes, it needs to get into the public. Those who know I have went into keeping a few bees are pretty happy about it, they are aware of the bee problem right now but on the other hand one of the neighborhood girls was over playing with my girls and bees came up, she was pretty quick and defensive that all bees are bad and that her mom is alergic to bees, so...

Jeremy
Title: Re: Public misunderstanding
Post by: Highlandsfreedom on May 16, 2009, 09:03:24 pm: yup funny how EVERYBODY is alergic to bees when less than 1 percent are doctor qualifed....... humm.........