Filed under: Photobooth Chronicles on May 17th, 2009 | 13 Comments »

Queens eat nothing but royal jelly their entire lives. Workers sometimes get to eat some jelly. Drones get the bee equivalent of Cheetos.

Queens lay around 1500 eggs each day. Workers feed the hive, protect the hive, gather the pollen, make the honey. No one is quite sure what role drones play in the hive. Some beekeepers kill them off to make room for more workers, but most keep them around, just in case.

The hive tool is your best friend. It only costs $3.

If you have to move a hive, you should either move it two feet or two miles. Anything in between and the bees will never find their way back.

On what is called her maiden voyage, the queen bee flies one mile straight up in the air and mates with the drones. This is the one and only time she will mate, as she now has enough sperm to last her three-year lifespan.

Drones cannot feed themselves. Or maybe they choose not to.

Bees do not like sudden movements. When you are searching for the queen in a frame, you should never quickly point, or you may get stung.

Also, they like dark clothing, so maybe you should wear white.

You will build up immunity to bee venom with subsequent stings. Up until a certain threshold, at which point you will probably become violently allergic and die.

Smoke doesn’t calm the bees, it interferes with their communication so they cannot alert each other that they are under attack. If you do not have a bee smoker handy, a Salem Light will do in a pinch.

But smoking underneath a bee veil has its inherent risks.

In the winter, bees keep each other warm by huddling toward the center of the hive in a sphere and vibrating their wings to generate heat. The bees on the outside systematically move toward the center when they become too cold. They survive winters in Siberia by doing this.

If you are a greedy bee-keeper, and you take too much honey, you will have to feed your bees a mixture of powdered sugar and water so they don’t starve over the winter. But powdered sugar is no substitute for honey. One hive contains about 40,000 bees, and they need at least 60 pounds of honey to last them until spring.

Finding the queen in the hive can be difficult, but look to the other bees for clues. They often point toward her. And her abdomen is larger than that of the other bees. Because of all the eggs, I suppose.

Bees do not poop in the hive. They poop in your yard.

German bees are strong, but mean. Italian bees are sweet, but delicate. Russian bees are the best. I would get Russian bees if I were you.

Bees are super fascinating and raw honey is extra delicious. You should give me all your honey.

The end.

Filed under: General on May 14th, 2009 | 12 Comments »

Filed under: General, Photobooth Chronicles on May 12th, 2009 | 8 Comments »

I was on the phone with my mother a few weeks ago when suddenly my dad picked up the line. Since my father doesn’t typically practice the art of telecommunications, I knew something serious must have been going on for him to grab the phone.

“Jen, it’s your dad.”

“Hey, pops.”

“Hey. Next time you come home, I need you to do something.”

“Sure. What is it?”

“Your mother found some bones in a pile of owl puke and we need you to help us identify the skull.”

And here’s where I sometimes wonder if my family is not like typical families, because nothing in my dad’s statement sounded unusual to me. Not the fact that my mother can identify owl puke, nor the idea that she would dig through avian vomit to discover its hidden contents, nor the fact that my parents would save an assortment of animal bones for me to examine. Shouldn’t that seem unusual? I feel like it should.

In any case, I was thrilled at the idea of trying to recreate the crime scene, and in preparation, started studying up on the diet of the Great Horned Owl. The next time I stopped by my parents’ house, I barely got in my “hellos” before inquiring after the mystery skeleton.

It was even better than I had imagined.

My parents were pretty certain that these were the remains of an unfortunate blind mole rat, and when I saw the pictures online, it seemed a plausible theory. But as I’ve done a bit more research, it would appear that blind mole rats are only found in Africa, Europe and the Middle East.

So this can only mean one of three things:

1. Blind mole rats have learned how to build crude ships, and have crossed the Atlantic Ocean.
2. Great Horned Owls can fly to Africa and back before puking up their meals.
3. This is not a blind mole rat.

So I leave it up to you, internets. We are greater than the sum of our parts, my friends, so I know that collectively we’ll be able to answer the burning question, “Hey skeleton! Is you is, or is you ain’t my blind mole rat?”

PS – If you ever want to give the gift of puke, I highly recommend this kit. It was a huge hit with my nephews a few years ago. Never before have I wanted to take back a gift as much as I did that one.

**UPDATE**
It’s so nice to be understood. More photos of owl puke treasures can be found in Brandon’s Flickr stream.

Filed under: General, Photo Quiz on May 10th, 2009 | 12 Comments »

Having a smashed iPhone has led to an unanticipated consequence: unsolicited sympathy from complete strangers. And I don’t mean all of you – you’re no strangers to me. I mean real strangers. Like the kind you meet in 3D. The kind you wish would offer you candy now and then.

Three times now I have connected with total strangers over the sad state of my iPhone while I was struggling to read through the cracks.

“Ouch! That looks painful!”

“It is. Like you can’t imagine.”

I look up from my broke-down phone for a minute to connect eyes with the man next to me on the train, and we nod silently. I feel a lump in my throat.

Later, a twenty-something redhead asks me how it happened. When I explain, she looks down at her own iPhone and gently touches it.

“Take good care of her. You never know when she could be called home,” I say, with a wisdom that only comes from tragedy.

The third encounter happened on my way home today as I walked past a man whose Blackberry had a single long crack down the middle of it. I held up my phone from across the aisle, “Could be worse. Could be worse.”

He grimaced, “Oooh. I’m so sorry.”

“Apple giveth, and Apple taketh away.”

“Amen to that.”

The only other time I’ve felt this level of random kindness was when I sprained my ankle in college and people would run to hold doors for me and help me with my books as I hobbled down stairs. Everyone had their own crutches story to share, and for a brief moment, we were all a little less alone.

Maybe I’ll keep the cracks for just a little while longer.

Filed under: General on May 5th, 2009 | 8 Comments »

It’s only been a short while, but every song I hear reminds me of you, and of what we could have had. I felt you slipping away, but I didn’t know how to stop you. What hurts most is that I’m not sure you ever knew how much you meant to me, and now it’s too late.

When I got home today, I wanted to write you a letter, but all the perfect lines have already been written, so I decided to make you a playlist to tell you how I feel.

I started off with some classic Beatles,

Yesterday,
All my troubles seemed so far away,
Now it looks as though they’re here to stay,
Oh, I believe in yesterday.

Then led into Sinead O’Connor’s Nothing Compares 2 U

It’s been so lonely without you here
Like a bird without a song
Nothing can stop these lonely tears from falling
Tell me baby where did I go wrong?

Simon and Garfunkel spoke to me next

Hello darkness, my old friend,
Ive come to talk with you again,
Because a vision softly creeping,
Left its seeds while I was sleeping,
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence

He gets a bad rap, but no one knows a broken heart like Phil Collins.

So take a look at me now, oh there’s just an empty space
And there’s nothing left here to remind me,
Just the memory of your face
Ooh take a look at me now, well there’s just an empty space
And you coming back to me is against all odds
and that’s what I’ve got to face

Kansas seemed appropriate after that

Don’t hang on, nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky
It slips away, and all your money won’t another minute buy.
Dust in the wind, all we are is dust in the wind
Dust in the wind, everything is dust in the wind.

I can always rely on the 80’s to help me express my true feelings:

Who’s gonna pick you up
When you fall
Who’s gonna hang it up
When you call
Who’s gonna pay attention
To your dreams
Who’s gonna plug their ears
When you scream

Goodbye, my love. These were the greatest six weeks of my life. Your candle burned out long before your legend ever did.

Rest in Peace
March 18, 2009 – May 2, 2009

Memorial services will be held at the Apple store on Michigan Ave tomorrow at 7:00pm. In lieu of flowers, please send candy. Lots and lots of candy.

Filed under: General on May 3rd, 2009 | 13 Comments »