View Full Version : Start flame
kmartin
06-04-2007, 11:38 PM
Why is it more acceptable to use the word 'colony' than the 'hive'?:D
Walt McBride
06-05-2007, 02:25 AM
I think it applies to whom you are talking to.
The old timers keeping bees 40 -60 years ago refer to them as swarms.
Some people from Europe refere to them as families.
So what is right?
Walt
Mean John
06-05-2007, 05:58 AM
For what it's worth, I use the term hive to refer to the aggregated woodwork and colony to refer to the bees.
hzxlvf
06-05-2007, 06:00 AM
family, house ?:)
Great question; and it got me thinking.
I think I'll do an experiment and start referring to one of my hives as a "tribe", another as a "colony", and one as "sorority" and see if it makes any difference in their activities.
My hypothesis is that the tribe will increase its foraging, and food-gathering behavior, the colony will rapidly increase in population and increase its swarming activities creating new colonies in neighboring regions, and the sorority will soon have multiple queens becuase of their less-than-puitanical attitudes towards the drones. They will also be robbed by the tribe because none of the sorority sisters will stoop to the menial task of guarding the entrance to their home. The sorority will have to most interesting honeycomb and their festooning behavior will exhibet some truly creative thinking.