I got pooped on today, but it’s all right.
It was just a little bee.
And I was wearing John’s jacket.
During the winter bees won’t defecate in their hive. Instead they wait for a bit of mild weather and then fly out on “cleansing flights”. Which is a very polite way of saying that if you are out walking near the hives when the snow stops and the sun peeks out for a moment you might be lucky enough to get pooped on by bees!
Behind the Willows 
What kind of hives do you have?
Langstroth hives, you can see pictures of them here: https://behindthewillows.com/2015/05/05/the-littlest-beekeeper/
Thank you 🙂 We’re thinking about getting some (not sure which yet)
I have only had very limited experience with other types of hives but between the bit I have and talking to people who’ve used other hives I’d recommend starting with the Langstroth. Mostly because you’ll have better resources at your disposal and (admittedly) more human friendly hives to work with using the traditional hives while you get to know the bees. Then, once you feel like you’ve got a handle on things, branch out and play around. (Not that you asked for my 2 cents but there it is anyway!)
This was none of my bees wax.
ECHO ECHO
😀
Gosh, rather large in relation to its body size!
Yes. And thank you for saying so! I thought about saying something about my amazement on the size but it seemed a bit TMI even for bee info. They all piled out of the hive when the sun peeked through the clouds, apparently they were desperate!
Interesting, and great shots.
It was very nice of her to hold so still for the camera. Of course the chilly temps helped with that too! 😉
Nice to have a cooperative model.
I thought this was going to be the name of a children’s book you read with the girls! Cool photos!
Now that would be an interesting children’s book! 🙂
You should write it.
ECHO ECHO
Is it good luck? Like being pooped on by birds? (As my grandma always used to say to stop me wailing.)
It should be! 🙂
great photos! I didn’t know this fact.
Thanks Jenny. Bee keeping books make it out to be a only about 45 degree all day event. But it seems more like they seize the moment when ever they can. It was late afternoon and in the 20s when I took these photos.
Such great shots Jessie! And also, I have a friend studying bee behavior (he is a researcher too!) and I’ll share this fact with him… For a change maybe I can teach him something?? Haha…
Well when you do you can tell him it wasn’t near the 50 degrees “they” say it has to be. It was only mid 20’s but when the sun came out right after the snow stopped they all piled out. They didn’t go far or fast but I saw one fall in the snow and crawl back out and then fly back to the hive!
Thanks Jessie 🙂
Stunning shots! 😀 There are worse things than bees to get pooped on by. Does bee poo smell of honey?
Wow, I’ve never considered that bees poop (I mean, of course they do) – much less that they do it by routine! Amazing pictures nonetheless
Random facts to amaze your friends with! 🙂 (and thank you!)
okay, I did not know that. You make all these interesting tidbits sound like fun, including getting pooped on!
Well, so long as it’s a bee doing the pooping and not something bigger it’s great fun! 😉
This is an interesting tidbit. It is fun to know about nature around us. 🙂
Glad you liked it, bee poop might not be for everyone. 😉
[…] we looked through the dead hive evidence of cleansing flights from the live hive was all around us and they appear to be doing fine. I’m crossing my […]