re:  stinging bees
 
I, too, just saw 'Fried Green Tomatoes'.  I was watching anxiously for the
great bee tree scene as many friends had pointed out to me how the young woman
in the film had 'just reached into a colony in a tree and pulled out a piece of
comb honey'.  I was VERY skeptical about how authentic this would be.  And was
not surprized when I saw the scene.
  First, to answer your question - to stage the scene one would only have to
use a well-fed artificial swarm.  The queen would be caged and placed somewhere
near or in the tree hole.  The bees would then fly around the queen, but be
quite docile.  That is, of course, if they were well-fed.  Swarms are usually
quite easy to work with.  Then, all that would have to be done was to place a
piece of comb honey in the tree hole.  Viola, a bee-charmer!
  However, the tree was not a typical bee-tree.  Bees choose their homes very
carefully.  The entrance is preferably fairly small so it can be easily
defended.  On a normal bee tree, one would NOT be able to put their hand into
the hole without a lot of difficulty - 2 or 3 fingers maybe!  And usually the
honey is stored at the top of the cavity with the brood closer to the opening.
So, one would not be able to reach the honey and would have a very difficult
time removing the comb from its attachment to the top of the cavity anyway.
Bees tend to 'cement' the combs to the top of the cavity using propolis.
  I was also amazed at how quickly the honey flowed out of the comb in the
film.  Just put the comb in a jar, and the jar fills up with honey!  I'm sure
beekeepers would like to know how to do that!  Removing honey from the comb
takes time and effort.
  Oh well, I guess the movies aren't supposed to be real, are they?
 
Kenna MacKenzie, Dept. Entomology, Comstock Hall, Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY