Friday, May 02, 2008

Bees and Bengals



The first thing you need to do for your Total Bee Expierence is nip over to the Birdchick's Blog and read her post. She gives a detailed step by step account in which you will no doubt learn a great deal more than my account, which goes something like We Were So Covered In Bees!!!!!!

After you have read The Birdchick's account, come back and we will speak further.

Cool, wasn't it?

I have to say tho, in a way, I kind of missed the terror, and chaos of last year. After we got done last year, I felt as if we had Done Something huge, (think Trial By Fire) and we were not the same people, Something had changed forever.

This year it was very much, ho-hum, yes, Covered in Bees, in you go Darlings, get to work.....Strange.

I went down this morning to un-block the entrances (you block them so the bees will get the idea that this is their new digs) and of course, they had already taken care of this (not real effective, apparently) and the Kelli hive was buzzing away, and when I opened the top, and looked into the feeder box, bees were feeding nicely.

In the Mimi hive tho, it was silent, and when I looked in no one was feeding. Just a couple bees flying around outside. I was not wearing a bee suit, so I was kind of nervous to go deeper into the hive, into the brood box and take a look, I'm a brave women, but not insane. We will have to see what happens. I dropped the Bridchick a note, and we will see what she has to say.

Moving away from Bees, and onto Fiends from Hell (IE Bengals) I got a note from the Great Lakes Bengal Rescue Accoc, which I am a member of, that there is a Kitty in need of rescue and a foster home. I may be getting a new friend for a short time, poor thing. The GLBR takes in Bengals that people need to give up for whatever reason, mostly because people get these cats and then find out they are WAY more cat than they bargained for. The are not Cute Little Kitties with Spots. The are super smart, way high energy, on the go Fiends. They can and will leap entertainment centers in a single bound, open cupboards, remove the entire contents of your purse in seconds and if you are eating, they WANT some of it, and No is not an option.

We have also spoken of what can happen if you don't get out of bed soon enough to feed them.

That all being true and said, they will also love you. Totally and completely and forever. It's so worth it. If you are thinking of getting a Bengal, check them out, a kitten from a breeder will start at $600, but there are many, many Bengals waiting to be adopted, and the fee is only $150. (Warning: If you go and look at the list of waiting Bengals, and see the pictures, your heart will crack in two)

I ordered them a one of these today from the Catwheel Company....A sound investment I am thinking. The Wheel was DEVELOPED for Bengals, in truth.



If you find yourself bored today, or with too much time on your hands, go to You Tube and search Bengal Wheel. Hours of fun. (Trust me, I've done it) How fun is this, tho? I am going to have to learn how to post Video. Freaky Venus Seaweed and Madame Malena Mim, Internet Stars!

Love, Bees and Bengals,
Lorraine

31 Comments:

At 12:02 PM , Blogger EmilyLady said...

The Birdchick's account was fascinating. I didn't know beekeepers named their bees. But I can imagine that one would grow fond of them after some time ...

I'm crossing my fingers for the little cat, hoping he finds a wonderful home soon!

~Emily

 
At 12:18 PM , Blogger spacedlaw said...

"if you are eating, they WANT some of it, and No is not an option."

Our dear Rubius can confirm this (and I have all this documented on my computer). They were quite enthusiastic about her sandwich and she had the hardest time keeping it away from them.

Good luck with the little forsterling.

 
At 12:33 PM , Blogger spacedlaw said...

The videos are great, by the way.

 
At 2:09 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

The bee videos were a trip. :) I have to admit it was more of a trip hearing you talk, though, because we have very similar speaking voices, which is rare fopr me to run into. Except that having grown up in LA during the '70s and '80s, I'm prone to lapsing into outbursts of 'Dude! That was totally awesome!' and you sound like an adult. ;)

Wheel! Of! Bengals! rocks. (Like Wheel of Fortune, without Vanna White.)

Okay, now I must stop Not Writing and Not Painting, and chain myself to my studio and pick either Painting or Writing. And then do it. Instead of writing this comment. Which is getting soo tempting to keep writing.

Okay, really now.

 
At 2:15 PM , Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

Beekeepers do name the hive, by tradition , with a women's name, since most of the bees are girls except for few drones ( whose sole purpose in life is to find a queen and mate with her, after which, they die )

Bengals will eat your food. They may try and eat you.

What videos? Did Bill put some up on Sharon's blog since his morning?

 
At 2:19 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yeah, go look -- there are videos. You pulled off the white bee-suit. :)

 
At 3:23 PM , Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

Sort of pulled off the white bee suit. I call it "The Great White Sausage look...." We have to get photos of Malena in her white spandex and me in the bee suit.

But now I can say I co-starred in a B-movie!

(hey! Had to be said!)

 
At 5:29 PM , Blogger EmilyLady said...

This is a very stupid question coming from someone who doesn't know about bees. Okay. How do the beekeepers tell the bees apart? (I can imagine, though, how one might distinguish the queens.)

~Emily

 
At 5:56 PM , Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

Not a stupid question at all, I didn't know anything at all about bees until a year ago.

The Queen is larger and she has a really long, big butt. (I don't know what that part of a bee is actually called, so I am going with Butt.)

Her eyes are different too.

The drones (Guys) on't look much different than the workers (Girls) except when they are growing in the comb, and then you can see it sort of bulges out and is rounded.

It's important to find the Queen after you get her in the hive to make sure she is in there, sometimes they fly away, then you have to stand really still for about 15 minutes and hope she flies back.

We couldn't in the Kelli hive, because that Queen was very small, for a Queen, not very different than the workers. We are hoping she works out.

 
At 9:45 PM , Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

Snow after midnight. What is UP with this?????????

Sigh.

I am going to join Kitty on Duran Duran......Me and the bees and the Bengals.

 
At 11:09 PM , Blogger Hera said...

I love the cat wheel.. must get one :) on 'cats vs dogs' I put some pictures up at www.herasings.com/blog - now you see who is boss ;) hehe

Wintery here... but I'm off to another summer in a few weeks :) (then again just can't trust the weather anywhere..) xox

 
At 1:10 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Bill did a great job filming the bees. I always wondered how all the pieces of the box went together and didn't smash any bees.

Hope Queen Mimi didn't make an escape.

I can't wait to see Mim and Venus in action on the Cat Wheel.:) What a great invention, ESPECIALLY for bengals. Maybe then the girls won't attack you so much?

 
At 8:40 AM , Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

Hera, I have been loving your cat vs dog pictures! You are the only one I know who have freaky-er pets than I do, truly.

The Wheel is going to be fun, I can't wait for it. I do think it will help, they have SO much energy, and this might be the thing. They are happy this morning as Spooky Daughter is here cleaning, and that is hours of entertainment.

(Spooky Daughter has become very good at replaceing the Softpaws, and does it as a matter of course when she comes, in self defense)

I am finding myself in an odd situation this morning.

I have a Day Off.

No Gigs. And Bill and Sharon are out at the Boss' house and are happy to take care of Dog. It's Saturday, so no Work-work.

What do I do? It's not raining or snowing. I could plant Things in my garden, I could rake the lawn, I could paint my prorch, do the laundry, go to the grocery store, clean out my car, play with the Bengals, re-do my spare room, hang the curtains on the new rods......

Wow.

A Day Off.

Cool.

Hope your day is as fine!

 
At 10:27 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Enjoy your day off! :) So many choices of things to do... or you could just do nothing at all and enjoy that, too.

You know, I have to say that you all are right -- this IS the coolest and most fun place on the web. It's awesome getting to know everyone. :)

 
At 10:50 AM , Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

We are really a fun bunch, aren't we? It's like a whole group of friends that just keeps growing.

Oddly enough, I have chosen an in between path for this Day Off. I got a LOT done in the Spooky House, and now Mini Man, Merry Housekeepers 6 year old son, is coming over to play with the Bengals for a couple of hours.

Not sure who is going to have more fun with this, me, him or them, but I think one 6 year old boy is about equal to two Bengals for energy.

 
At 11:10 AM , Blogger ivenotime said...

Sounds great! A day off is a Wonderful Gift (spoken as I sit in my office babysitting a kiln :). BUT the sun is shining, I will be done soon and get home to take Tank for a walk. Have a good day all!

 
At 11:16 AM , Blogger spacedlaw said...

Day is almost over at this end but it was a great day (started with a microcat cuddle and then boating - and is now finishing with a microcat play)...

Keep enjoying your day out!

 
At 12:43 PM , Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

I learned all about The Penguin Club, an online game popular with the first grade set. If you can afford $6 a month, you can be a Member and get the REALLY cool things.

When asked, I had to admit, yes, I could afford $6 a month.

Mini Man confided in me that it had "Always been a Dream of his" to become a member, and couldn't we PLEASE do it, if I could afford it.

I jokingly asked him what did I get for doing it, and he looked at me like I was barking mad and said " I brought you pudding AND a juice box!"

It's not every day you can make someones Dream come true for $6 a month.

 
At 1:27 PM , Blogger spacedlaw said...

Sweet...

 
At 1:52 PM , Blogger Malena said...

So, after reading down a few comments, I must say I have to be a queen Bee...due to my long large butt. I'd be the queen of the bee universe if I were a Bee. Bee inspired corsets is as close as I will get.

pantagruel, like shut up! Dude, I live in LA too, so I like... totally get it, ya know?

Lorraine is quite the writer and entertainer. The later is what she is best IN THE WORLD. She can make cleaning a toilet at 5 am on the freeway gas station an adventure. (Tell them the story Dev)

 
At 2:00 PM , Blogger Adri said...

Great Lakes Bengal Rescue does good work!

(She says, as a bengal is singing away on her desk. Fiends indeed, but LOVABLE fiends!)

 
At 2:20 PM , Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

Adri, nice to meet you! Yes, loveable Fiends indeed!

GLBR does do very good work. I am getting TWO foster kitties next week! My first fosters!

(FOUR Bengals??????? I must be mad!)

Malena, I nearly snorted tea! Queen Bee Butt! Come out here and paint a hive, and we will have our own LaM Queen!

5:00am restrooms. Ah yes, that would be the day we met, Malena and I for the first time in person. She took the red-eye and I picked her up and we stopped on the way home...

We went into the restroom, and a girl was cleaning it, she said Hello how are you, and we said Lovely thank you, how are you???

Oh, fine says she....And I said, well maybee considering it is 5:00am and you are working...

Oh, says she, it's not that bad....

All I could think was " HELLO? Compared to WHAT??? How is this a step up for you??? What is worse???? It's five in the morning, and you are cleaning a restroom at a gas station on the freeway"

It put a LOT of things into perspective.

 
At 2:51 PM , Blogger Adri said...

Lorraine-- FOUR bengals? I have two and a mix and though sometimes I melt over rescues and kittens, I think a fourth would do me in!

I can't foster because one of my boys has been immuno-compromised in the past and I don't want to risk it, but I used to help set up transfers and do adoption announcements for Texas bengal rescue.

Best of luck with your fostercats!

 
At 2:55 PM , Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

Adri, we so have to talk!

They are a lot of cat, and this is my first fostering, so any input is appreciated!!!

 
At 2:59 PM , Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

Adri, can't find your profile, can you e-mail me at lorraineamalena@gmail.com and talk some Bengal with me?

 
At 3:02 PM , Blogger Adri said...

Lorraine, I'm about to run out to see Iron Man (ee!), but email me any time. Integrating bengals into the household can be fun.

adrienne.haik (at) gmail (dot) com

 
At 9:11 PM , Blogger ariandalen said...

Hi, Adri! Another L'aMie in Texas!
As I told Pantagruel a few weeks ago, welcome to the asylum. ;)

 
At 12:04 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wow. One six year old plus 2 bengals =Maximum Entertainment Value.:) Who needs tv?
Sounds like your day off was well spent.

Malena, you nearly made me give my keyboard a bath with your "bee-butt" comment. Good thing I'd JUST put my drink down.

 
At 9:57 AM , Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

I am STILL laughing about her Bee Butt!

It was a great time yesterday with Mini Man, we had some fun and the Kitties loved it!

 
At 4:57 AM , Blogger Dan Guy said...

I bet Max would fit in one of those wheels... He too has so much energy. Hmm.... ^_^

 
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