Buzz at Stonecroft was a ‘sweet’ talk
With August being Women’s Month the focus was on the role women play in society (or a beehive) and in the ministry.
A queen bee can lay about a million eggs in her lifetime which spans around six years and the drones, the males of the hive, only have one function – to fertilise the eggs.
Therefore the idiom ‘busy bee’ comes from the females or worker bees that do all the labour in the hive necessary for the maintenance and growth of the colony.
The beehive is a smoothly running, highly organised society and everything seems to be done for the good of the community as a whole.
These fascinating facts were revealed by Erich Buhr who delivered a talk entitled ‘The Mastery of Bee Keeping’ at the August meeting of Stonecroft, held at the Shelly Beach Methodist Church.
With August being Women’s Month the focus was on the role women play in society (or a beehive) and in the ministry.
Erich said he owed his love of honey to his mother. “For more than 80 years I have enjoyed eating honey – a sweet, viscous food substance made by bees.”
Since retiring, the former chartered accountant has been able to devote his attention to bee keeping.
“There are about 15 000 to 20 000 different kinds of bees but in South Africa two species, the African and Cape honeybees are the only ones that produce honey. These social bees live co-operatively in hives housing about 40 000 but there can be as many as 70 000. When hives become overcrowded bees will swarm to start a new colony,” he explained.
World Bee Day (May 20) is dedicated to these incredible creatures – without bees fertilisation of many plants would not happen.
“Bees cannot swim so always rescue them if they have fallen into a swimming pool – we need bees and if you have a hive on your property, macadamia nut farmers in the area want them.”
Erich said most honey in the area came from eucalyptus flowers and avocados. Citrus flowers were also regarded as being good for honey making. He also showed off some of his sweet rewards from bee keeping – various jars of honey.
“With Moses and David being the Bible biggies, many overlook the women who played a vital role in God’s kingdom,” said Anneli Mey, who is the current rector at the church.
In her thought-provoking talk she heaped praise on Old Testament women such as Miriam (Moses’ half-sister), Deborah (first woman judge) and Esther (Jewish queen) and the heroines of the New Testament in Mary (both), Elizabeth, Anna, Martha, Phoebe and Priscilla.
“Always remember when Jesus was resurrected he first appeared to a woman, namely Mary Magdalene.”
Guests were entertained by musician/singer Johan Potgieter and the WA provided the tasty tea.
HAVE YOUR SAY
Like the South Coast Herald’s Facebook page, follow us on Twitter and Instagram
