It's Really Sad That Scott Hanson From The Redzone Channel Is An Anti-Bee Guy
Maja Hitij. Getty Images.
There I was yesterday, changing channels back and forth between the ending of the Bills-Dolphins game and the Redzone channel yesterday (had Mia +6, went 5-5 nbd) when I saw a graphic on Redzone that caught my eye.
It was a picture of a swarm of bees congregating on the crossbar of one of the field goals at Tampa Bay's Raymond James Stadium.
A pretty cool sight to see. Nature meeting football, head on.
As everybody knows by now, I go hard in the mother fucking paint for bees. I also know how common and harmless honeybee swarms like this are.
For the uninitiated -
Iowa State University - Swarming is a natural process in the life of a honey bee colony. Swarming occurs when a large group of honey bees leaves an established colony and flies off to establish a new colony, essentially creating two from one. Swarming is a natural method of propagation that occurs in response to crowding within the colony. Swarming usually occurs in late spring and early summer and begins in the warmer hours of the day.
Honey bee swarms may contain several hundred to several thousand worker bees, a few drones and one queen. Swarming bees fly around briefly and then cluster on a tree limb, shrub or other object. Clusters usually remain stationary for an hour to a few days, depending on weather and the time needed to find a new nest site by scouting bees. When a suitable location for the new colony, such as a hollow tree, is found the cluster breaks up and flies to it.
Honey bee swarms are not highly dangerous under most circumstances. Swarming honey bees feed prior to swarming, reducing their ability to sting. Further, bees away from the vicinity of their nest (offspring and food stores) are less defensive and are unlikely to sting unless provoked.
In most situations when a honey bee swarm is found on a tree, shrub or house you do not need to do anything. Swarms are temporary and the bees will move on if you patiently ignore them. Stay back and keep others away from the swarm, but feel free to admire and appreciate the bees from a safe distance.
There you go. HARMLESS. Appreciate the beauty of nature taking its course from a safe distance.
Pretty basic right?
Right.
So imagine my astonishment when Scott Hanson blurted out (I'm paraphrasing slightly) "somebody in Miami go to the hardware store and grab a can of Raid and take care of that."
Chill the fuck out man.
Those bees aren't hurting anybody. They're just relocating and dividing the hive.
No need to promote eradicating them for no reason to your legion of fans on Redzone.
After all, as Einstein said, (paraphrasing again) "Once the bees go, man goes". And last I checked, Einstein was a pretty smart guy. Smarter than Scott Hanson I know that for sure.
White Sox Dave, Chief, and I covered this, and the MAJOR role bees play in the food cycle and our ecosystem in general, on our visit to Heaven's Honey's apiary.
If you haven't seen the video, check it out. You might learn something.
And if you're Scott Hanson, definitely check it out, and stop hating on bees.
#SAVETHEBEES