I sell honey at a large farmers market in Minneapolis, Mn.  During
good weather we have an observation hive on the table as a way to
draw attention to our stand and it produces some interesting reactions
from the public.

A most frequent question is of course where is the queen bee? I
explain that the queen is marked and is not always visible. If the
people seem quite persistent and keep looking and discussing what
she might look like and I have a break in the sales action, I offer the
following advice.

I look quite serious and say that sometime we need to find the queen
and there can be 40-50,000 bees in a hive and the task can be quite
daunting. Then I offer that an old beekeeper once told me the
Beekeepers Secret for finding a queen bee.  You sing a song and it
must be a joyous and happy song and if its joyous and happy enough
the queen bee will come right to the top of the hive and present
herself.  At this point most people are still with me and listening quite
intently.

Then with an equally serious face I say do you know any happy and
joyous songs?  About 1 out of ten take the bait and ponder the thought
of singing to the bees. Some of the young children can be coaxed into
singing by their parents who have seen through my little story and  an
occasional adult will take the story hook, line and sinker.

Recently I had what turned out to be a former beekeeper from the
middle east  hear my B.S. about finding the queen and he scoffed that
he had never heard that story before and did not believe it.

I said to him are you still a beekeeper ? to which he replied no I am
not. and I responded with see you did not know the beekeepers secret
and now you are no longer a beekeeper!  His buddies thought it was
quite funny and proceeded to give him a hard time as they walked
away laughing.

Does anybody else know any other Beekeepers Secrets?

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