Buzzing Bee Vintage Postcard

vintage postcards
It was custom in rural England up to the 18th century to knock on the resident beehive after a death. The little honey makers were ensured that they were welcome to stay and solemnly advised not to follow their owner.



To neglect the custom was to risk the bees abandoning their hives, never to return! This vintage postcard gentleman is certainly overdoing it on the protective gear!

When were you first stung by a bee?


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23 cool cats commented:

Marie Reed said...

I tried desperately to get stung when I was a little girl! I did kart wheels through clover.. I chased them and annoyed them... nothing! When I was 15 I was helping a drowning bee out of a swimming pool! He stung the dickens out of me! I was a happy camper!

Celine said...

Beautiful Marie! I love that first postcard!
I never got stung by a bee, weird but true!

Marie Reed said...

@ Celine We must remedy this situation!

Pat said...

Like you, I was first stung as a child running through the clover...many times...on the bottom of my feet. No cartwheels for me. I wouldn't like to knock on a beehive...I'd think they'd make a beeline for me.

steviewren said...

"I've never been stung by a bee" she says as she knocks on wood and crosses her fingers.

twinkle teaches said...

Thankfully I have never been stung! The funny think is I adore cartoon-y bees but real life bees scare me!!!I have been stung by a wasp though. :)
tina

Catherine said...

This man on the postcard is certainly like you ! No gloves, no protections ! I can't believe it.

I have been stung by a bug, maybe a bee, I haven't seen. All I remember is that a lightning pain.

Betsy Brock said...

Running through clover and stung on my toe! Seems to be a common way to get stung! That's probably not as common now with lawn treatments keeping the clover out of the grass. Marie, you are a hoot wishing to get stung!

Vodka Mom said...

I'll never forget when we were little, and the little neighbor boy fell into a hole that was FILLED with bees. My mother and our neighbor flew into the back yard, ripped off their skirts (back them ladies wore skirts or dresses all day even at home) and beat the bees off of him.

He lived, but it was very traumatic. shudder.

Dawn Parsons Smith said...

Those beekeepers are brave souls! Of course, I love this! (BEE and Rose!) I am lucky that I have never been stung! I read your comment up there, you crazy girl! lol! That was a funny story!

Daryl said...

Never bee stung but once a wasp bit me .. I have a severe allergy to bug bites even simple mosquito bites become enormous and last for days ...

Marie Reed said...

Oh no! Poor Daryl...It's a good thing that you live in the city and not in say.... Alabama where mosquitoes are the state bird!

Beth Niquette said...

Hmmm...what an intriguing question. The earliest I remember getting stung was when I was around 8 or 9. I was in my bedroom reading a book when I felt tiny legs grab my big toe, and something stung me.

Turns out (once I was done screaming), that my entire room was filled with bees. Honey bees had made their home in the walls, and they'd broken through to my room.

Dad smoked the bees out, and we had honeycomb and sweet fresh honey for months.

claude said...

Hello marie !
Sorry but I cannot post about mailboxes this week, too much work. On next week, promised !

Starman said...

I cannot remember the first, nor the last, time I was stung by a bee. I can't even remember the last time I saw a bee. Till now.

Pietro Brosio said...

I've never been stung by a bee: once (many many years ago...) my girl friend called me St Francis among the bees! :-)
Another very lovely post, Marie.

Eddy said...

Sorry, I'm allergic to bees stings.But I love honey with cakes...

Anonymous said...

Great bit of history and life. I too have never been stung by a bee...now that I live in the countryside it may now actually happen!

Laila said...

Aw this card brings back memories for me, one of my "Grand" uncles used to be a bee keeper... it was fascainating to watch him with the bees!

I've only gotten stung one time, and I'm not even sure it counts, the poor thing was trying to survive after all. It had managed to fly up my skirt (by accident I'm SURE....) and I had no idea he was there until he stung my leg to make me aware of it ;-)

Sparky said...

I never knew about this custom of disturbing bees when someone dies.

I think I was first stung as a small child. I was walking barefooted through the grass in the yard and stung by a dead bee. We went barefoot a lot when growing up in Central Florida. It was/is ALWAYS hot there. ♥ ∞

Tanya Breese said...

We have a tree with a big bee hive inside of it. You can see gazillions of bees coming and going.

I got stung by a bee once when I was a little girl. We were camping and I had on dumb leotards (yes, even camping my mom dressed me with leotards lol) I felt something itchy inside and ended up having a bee stuck inside my leotards and stinging my leg, ouch!
That was the only time I've been stung by a bee but have also been stung by wasps, me and my cousin at the same time. We picked up something at my grandpa and grandmas house and wasps flew out and got both of us.
Congrats on finally getting your bee sting,lol...I'm still trying to figure out this network blog thing on fb...

Evelyn Yvonne Theriault said...

Marie, I don't how you find all these quirky stories! I hope you never run out.
Evelyn in Montreal

Anonymous said...

Love seeing your vintage postcards. Unique idea. Cool blog.

Barefoot, running through clover like many others. I've also been stung by a hornet and a wasp. Those two were really painful.