# Quotes about beekeeping



## Jeffzhear (Dec 2, 2006)

"To Bee, or Not to Bee" Shakespeare, with a slight edit


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## drobbins (Jun 1, 2005)

"DOH! she got me in the face!" 

Dave


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## BjornBee (Feb 7, 2003)

This was at one time my end qoute before I changed it to the current one.

"If a beekeeper tells you he knows what he's doing, be wary and keep a keen eye on this fellow, for he has already told one lie, and no doubt will tell you another." (variation - author unknown)


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## kenpkr (Apr 6, 2004)

"There is no other field of animal husbandry like beekeeping. It has the appeal to the scientist, the nature lover, and even (or especially) the philosopher. It is a chance to work with some of the most fascinating of God's creatures, to spend time and do work in the great outdoors, to challenge my abilities and continue to learn. My hope is that I never become so frail with old age that I cannot spend my days among the bees. It gives credence to the old saw that "the best things in life are free". I thank God daily for the opportunity and privilege to be a beekeeper."

"Beekeepers are the prostitutes of Agriculture. They usually work at night, most wear a veil on their heads. They are called upon when needed, paid, and told to get out when they are done."

"Sometimes cars stall, food spoils, varnish fails to dry, wrong words are said, nice neighbours move, bees abscond!! If you see no apparent or justified reason, dońt burn your brain out. Start a new colony and move on."

"One fact remains, tho.
Say the bees will, and they won't.
Say they won't, and they will."


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## BerkeyDavid (Jan 29, 2004)

*Great Idea I love quotes*

OK here are a few from my books of quotations, Everyman Edition:

Honey is sweet, but the bee stings.

Star that bringest home the bee,
and sett'st the weary labourer free!

The calf, the goose, the bee:
The world is ruled by these three.
(=Parchment, pen and wax)

Her lips were red, and one was thin,
Compar'd to that was next her chin
(Some bee had stung it newly).

How doth the little busy bee 
Improve each shining hour,
And gather honey all the day
From every opening flower.

Myriads of rivulets hurrying thro' the lawn,
The moan of doves in immemorial elms,
And murmuring of innumerable bees.


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## BerkeyDavid (Jan 29, 2004)

*From Bartlett's QUotations*

Booming and booming of the new-come bee.

The busy bee has no time for sorrow.

To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee,
One clover, and a bee,
And revery.
The revery alone will do,
If bees are few.
Emily Dickinson


The wise and moral man
Shines like a fire on a hilltop,
Making money like the bee,
Who does not hurt the flower.


What is not good for the swarm is not good for the bee.


The Pedigree of Honey
Does not concern the Bee-
A Clover, any time, to him,
Is aristocracy.

Edited version:

The Pedigree of Honey
Does not concern the Bee-
A Clover, any time, to her,
Is aristocracy.


Hide me from day's garish eye,
While the bee with honied thigh,
That at her flower work doth sing,
And the waters murmuring
With such consort as they keep,
Entice the dewy - feathered sleep.


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## BerkeyDavid (Jan 29, 2004)

*From Respectfully Quoted*

The lark is up to meet the sun,
The bee is on the wing;
The ant its labor has begun,
The woods with music ring.
Shall birds, and bees, and ants, be wise,
While I my moments waste?
O let me with the morning rise,
And to my duty haste.

Wm. Holmes McGuffey, _McGuffey's Eclectic Primer;_ (1848).


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## Ann (Feb 18, 2006)

BerkeyDavid said:


> The lark is up to meet the sun,
> The bee is on the wing;
> The ant its labor has begun,
> The woods with music ring.
> ...


Oooh, I like this one!


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## Hobie (Jun 1, 2006)

Someone else's tagline:

“You know, you never can tell with bees.” 
-Winnie The Pooh

"The only reason for being a bee that I know of is making honey....and the only reason for making honey is so I can eat it."
-Winnie the Pooh

"No bees, no honey; no work, no money." (proverb)


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## Jim Fischer (Jan 5, 2001)

*"No sound tends to indicate no bees."* - Jim Fischer, circa 1980


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## Jim Williamson (Feb 16, 2006)

Unabashedly quoting myself, there's my signature line ...


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## indypartridge (Nov 18, 2004)

My strength was renewed when I tasted a little honey. 1 Samuel 14:29

What is sweeter than honey? Judges 14:18

How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Psalm 119:103

Eat honey, my son, for it is good; honey from the comb is sweet to your taste. Proverbs 24:13

And perhaps just a bit risque: 
I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey. Song of Solomon 5:1


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## Tia (Nov 19, 2003)

There is no other field of animal husbandry like beekeeping. It has the appeal to the scientist, the nature lover, and even (or especially) the philosopher. It is a chance to work with some of the most fascinating of God's creatures, to spend time and do work in the great outdoors, to challenge my abilities and continue to learn. My hope is that I never become so frail with old age that I cannot spend my days among the bees. It gives credence to the old saw that "the best things in life are free". I thank God daily for the opportunity and privilege to be a beekeeper."
Kenpkr - Who said this? I love it and want to turn it into a sign, but want to credit the author.


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## Ben Brewcat (Oct 27, 2004)

Ditto that; I like it a lot.


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## bluegrass (Aug 30, 2006)

I am surprised this thread didn't go farther... 

One of my favorite modern quotes:

*If I have made a small success with honeybees, it was achieved by working steadily and ignoring the advice and perspective of all kinds of modern, certified experts and well established beekeepers.* (Kirk Webster)


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## Kidbeeyoz (May 8, 2013)

"The bee that hath the honey in her mouth, hath the sting in her tail."


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## bevy's honeybees (Apr 21, 2011)

24 Gracious words are a honeycomb,
sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
Proverbs 16:24


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

"It will be readily appreciated that in the course of many years and daily contact with bees, the professional bee-keeper will of necessity gain a knowledge and insight into the mysterious ways of the honeybee, usually denied to the scientist in the laboratory and the amateur in possession of a few colonies. Indeed, a limited practical experience will inevitably lead to views and conclusions, which are often completely at variance to the findings of a wide practical nature. The professional bee-keeper is at all times compelled to assess things realistically and to keep an open mind in regard to every problem he may be confronted with. He is also forced to base his methods of management on concrete results and must sharply differentiate between essentials and inessentials."--Beekeeping at Buckfast Abbey, Brother Adam 

"One does not divine the ways of nature, it lays out methods that confound our science, and it is only by studying it carefully that we may succeed in unveiling some of its mysteries."--Francis Huber, New Observations on Bees Volume II 

"Perfection in beekeeping is not found in a multiplicity of appliances, but in simplicity and the elimination of everything not absolutely essential" --Brother Adam, In Search of the Best Bee Strains 

"In general, the simpler the system, the more efficient and the larger the amount of work which can be accomplished in a given time."--Frank Pellet, Practical Queen Rearing 

"Whatever style (hive) may be adopted, let it by all means be one with movable frames, and have but one sized frame in the apiary."--A.B. Mason, Mysteries of Bee-keeping explained 

"Friends don't let friends lift deeps" Jim Fischer of Fischer's BeeQuick 

"...no man's back is unbreakable and even beekeepers grow older. When full, a mere shallow super is heavy, weighing forty pounds or more. Deep supers, when filled, are ponderous beyond practical limit."--"...no man's back is unbreakable and even beekeepers grow older. When full, a mere shallow super is heavy, weighing forty pounds or more. Deep supers, when filled, are ponderous beyond practical limit."--Richard Taylor, The Joys of Beekeeping

"There are a few rules of thumb that are useful guides. One is that when you are confronted with some problem in the apiary and you do not know what to do, then do nothing. Matters are seldom made worse by doing nothing and are often made much worse by inept intervention." --The How-To-Do-It book of Beekeeping, Richard Taylor 

I suppose I can quote myself...

"If you're not confused, you're not learning anything."--Michael Bush

"Here, then, is the short answer to every beekeeping issue. Give them the resources to resolve the problem and let them. If you can’t give them the resources, then limit the need for the resources."--Michael Bush


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## bimbyjim (Nov 15, 2009)

Michael Bush said:


> "If you're not confused, you're not learning anything."--Michael Bush


To see Michael Bush quote this is very encouraging.


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## capathome (Sep 20, 2011)

A saying I give to all new beekeepers
"Ask 5 different beekeepers the same question and you'll get 7 different answers"
(Learned from spending time here on Beesource)


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## Frankh (Aug 28, 2011)

"Beekeepers should never work on ladders...you cannot run on a ladder".....from a post on this forum
"If you see me running. things have gone poorly and you should run too."...I told this to a young boy playing outside a house from which I was removing bees . When he wanted to ask me something he'd say, "hey, honeyman..come here"...cute kid.


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## rniles (Oct 10, 2012)

BjornBee said:


> "If a beekeeper tells you he knows what he's doing, be wary and keep a keen eye on this fellow, for he has already told one lie, and no doubt will tell you another." (variation - author unknown)


:lpf:


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## briangutz (May 20, 2011)

"Bee Keeping can be simple!! Humans make it complex!!" -Kirk Anderson


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## Steves1967 (May 16, 2012)

Referring to a swarm too high in a tree to catch, someone on the forum here said "Them's God's Bees".


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## Chemguy (Nov 26, 2012)

Went to a choral concert last night, and the lyrics to Swanee River were in the concert book. Here's a line: "When will I see the bees a-humming all round the comb?


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