Let's celebrate! We've moved to a new platform, beehiiv!

New address, same great content. I've combed the archives and brought back the best bee stories of last year.

P.S. Make sure The Convo Kit always lands in your inbox: Please add "[email protected]" to your trusted contacts OR reply to this email with your favorite bee. (mine is Buzz from Honey Nut Cheerios)

-Steve

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Caffeine Buzzzz

Caffeinated bees work more efficiently and target specific flowers. A recent study found that buzz-enhanced bees could be trained to seek out plants by pairing the target plant odor with caffeinated sugar.

• Caffeine: naturally occurring plant chemical

• Improves bee memory

• Business ideas: Starbuzz. Dunkin Hornuts.

Influencing flower choice can increase productivity of commercial bee sales. Farms import bees to pollinate their plants, but often lose many to nearby wildflowers. This caffeine training would enable farmers to corral their bees to specific areas.

Related: An article on caffeine trained humans, by Michael Pollan. (no, that’s pollen)

More beetails: Buzz. Buzzzzz.

Bluetiful Bee

When they say beeuty is in the eye of the bee-holder, they’re talking about blue bees. Xylocopa caerulea is a massive blue carpenter bee native to Southeast Asia, India, and Southern China.

• Up to 28 mm long (bigger than a quarter)

• Only females are blue and have a stinger

• Live solitary, non-aggressive lives

Like other carpenter bees, xylocopa caerulea, make single-family homes inside trees rather than large nests. They mix their thick honey with pollen to create the “bee bread” where eggs are laid for a sweet first meal. Naturally, these blue buzzers are big fans of Eiffel-65’s hit song.

Bleuty is in the eye of the beeholder

BFH: Beekeep From Home

Even beekeepers can work remotely in 2021. Beewise’s BeeHome automates climate control, harvesting, and other beekeeping practices you can manage without a special suit.

• Automated bee care, 24/7

• 1 Beehome houses 24 colonies

• Price: $400 per month

75% of the world's food crops partially depend on animal pollination. Beehomes reduce unnecessary loss of production with real-time colony support. Which means Pooh may finally satisfy that rumbly in their tumbly.

Bee happy

Clickables 

• There are bees, and then there are carnivorous bees

• buzz... or BUZZZZZZ!!, how bees communicate

• If the hive gets boring, there's always wasp raves

• New wasp straight outta Valhalla

st3v on site

Buzzness Opportunity

Great business opportunities are a dime a dozen, st3v's just in it for the puns.

Thank you for reading!

Missed last week’s Convo?

Catch-up here: Moth Muted | Worm Food | NAUTy Dog – The Convo Kit #53

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