Welcome to Wiser Now’s weekly email blast which reflects my eclectic interests and, I hope, yours. This week’s theme was inspired by two facts: September is Honey Month and September 30 is Bee’s Knees Day. From there, of course, my mind buzzed with other sweet ideas. And I was reminded that a bee asleep in a flower is an awwww-some sight.



I hope you find these offerings fun, and perhaps even useful, and welcome your feedback. (Kathy@WiserNow.com) And if you haven’t yet pressed the subscribe button so this newsletter doesn’t go to spam, please do so now.

The Quirky Quote

Handle a book as a bee does a flower; extract its sweetness but do not damage it!

~ John Muir

The Quirky Facts

Beekeeping has been practiced for thousands of years, spreading through the Roman Empire and ancient Egypt – where citizens could even pay their taxes in honey. The ancient Greeks and Romans thought honey possessed the magic power to inspire poets and speakers’ eloquence (honey-tongued) and in Hindu mythology it bestowed wisdom.

But the word “honey” is of European origin. The prefix  “mel,” which is found in many Greek towns and in the original name for the island of Malta, is an older reference to honey. Melville, means “honey town,” and honey-like sweetness is the connotation behind such words as melody, melon and mellow, too.   

The Quirky Observation

September 30 is The Bee’s Knees Day, although it’s hard to imagine it’s widely celebrated. It’s an expression that is roughly 100 years old and refers to something superb. The cat’s pajamas, which was popular at about the same time, has a similar meaning. The question remains: Do bees have knees? According to a Science Focus article, the answer is yes, sort of, although the part in question is not actually called that. All insects, including bees, have six leg sections connected by a joint, “and the one most like a knee is between the femur and tibia.” But the article speculates that the expression came about only because the two words rhyme. (I was sent the unattributed meme at left by a friend and can’t find a source, but it seemed appropriate to include here.)

Other bee idioms include: 

• “She’s got a bee in her bonnet” which basically means she is obsessed with a topic that doesn’t particularly interest me
• “None of your beeswax” meaning mind your own business
• “She’s the queen bee,” i.e., she holds the power
• flocking to X “like bees to honey” alludes to the newest popular trend, and
• explaining to someone about the “birds and the bees” doesn’t, I expect, need explanation.



There is also, of course, the famous saying by Muhammad Ali, who described his boxing technique as “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee,” but it’s a slur on honeybees, because the males can’t sting, the females only sting if provoked and will die if they do sting someone, plus, they nobly pollinate many of the plants we eat without ever expecting compensation.

The Featured Product – Butterflies and Bees

The Wiser Now slide shows are designed to give activity leaders a dozen or so programming ideas that can be shown on a wide screen TV, but they are also fun for individuals and families to share on an iPad or other tablet. Bees and Butterflies is an especially sweet deal.

The 101 slides in this Wiser Now honey of a slide show offer beautiful close-up photographs of butterflies and bees and includes:

• Trivia quizzes on both butterflies and bees
• Word games on “Butter and Flies” and Trying to Bee Funny
• A reminiscence exercise on your bee and butterfly memories
• Discussions on how butterflies escape predators and a bunch of facts we thought you ought to Bee Aware of

You will surely bug your friends with all you learn and imagine.

Please Spread the Word

Wiser Now Wednesday is a multi-award-winning e-newsletter but it hasn’t begun to meet its potential audience, so please make some noise about it.

Each week, the links to the current and seven previous Wiser Now Wednesdays are provided in the archive (“WN Wed Archive” on the far right of the menu bar). The current issue appears there late in the day of publication. 

Click on that or any other issue you want to share, and when it appears, at the top of the screen you will see “Share” with an f for Facebook and a bird for Twitter. Click on them to share to your contacts or just copy the URL at the top of your screen and send it to your contacts in an email. For all of you who are activity professionals out there, this is also the best way to create a printable copy without your email info at the top.



And if you represent an organization that would like a customized version or that would consider becoming a sponsor, send me a note at Kathy@WiserNow.com. Thank you!

The Questions

• Do you like honey? Do you use it in baking or beverages like tea? Anything else?
• Did you ever participate in a quilting bee or spelling bee or wear a beehive hairdo?
• What terms of endearment do you use for the people you love? Is honey or honeybunch one of them?

The Quiz – The Busyness of Honeybees

Here is an excerpt from a honeybee quiz found in this week’s featured product. If you don’t know the answers, congratulate yourself for learning something new.

1. Which of the following are true about the queen bee?

a. She mates with a dozen or more males and then lays eggs the rest of her life. ___

b. She lays as many as 300 eggs a day. ___

c. She leads the charge against enemies to the hive. ___

d. Both a. and b. ___

2. The queen bee lives longer than any other bee in the hive – as much as 2 – 5 years. How long do the worker bees live?

a. About 3 weeks ___

b. About 6 weeks ___

c. About 3 months ___

d. About 6 months ___

3. What do the drones do?

a. They’re the hive’s only males, and they mate with all the other bees. ___

b. They’re the hives only males, but they only mate with the queen. ___

c. They defend the hive because they have the most powerful stingers. ___

d. Both b. and c. ___

4. As their name implies, the worker bees (all female and all offspring of the queen) do all the work which includes:

a. Feeding the larvae ___

b. Gathering the nectar ___

c. Making the honey ___

d. All of the above ___

5. Honeybees gather both nectar and pollen. The pollen is used for pollinating plants, of course, but also gathered for use as food for the larvae that will soon become new bees. How many flowers does a honeybee visit to gather a load of pollen?

a. 50 ___

b. 150 ___

c. 500 ___

d. 1500 ___

6. How far does a hive of bees fly to bring you one pound of honey?

a. Over 55 miles/88 km ___

b. Over 550 miles/885 km ___

                                                             c. Over 5500 miles/8851 km ___

                                                             d. Over 55,000 miles/88,513 km ___

7. How do honeybees communicate with one another?

a. With their antennae ___

b. By buzzing ___

c. By dancing ___

Be sure to check the quiz answer key for more delights.

The Resources

• https://bees.caes.uga.edu/bees-beekeeping-pollination/other-topics/on-einstein--bees--and-survival-of-the-human-race.html
• https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/do-bees-feed-both-nectar-and-pollen
• https://askabiologist.asu.edu/bee-colony-life
• https://www.buzzaboutbees.net/do-all-bees-sting.html
• https://www.benefits-of-honey.com/honey-bee-facts/
• https://www.sciencefocus.com/nature/do-bees-have-knees-and-if-so-whats-so-special-about-them/

Photo credits unless otherwise noted are purchased from iStock.

• And, as always, check out www.WiserNow.com.

Answers to the quiz

1.   Only a. She lays up to 3000 eggs a day!

2.   b. About six weeks

3.   b. Drones only mate with the queen and they have no stingers.

4.   d. Yes, these sterile bees do all the work and have none of the fun.

5.   d. 1500

6.   d. Over 55,000 miles/88,513 km

7.   c. By dancing. You can see samples and explanations here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MX2WN-7Xzc and here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LA1OTMCJrT8 and see a wonderful performance of “Flight of the Bumblebee” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M93qXQWaBdE