The bees knees

Our friendly beekeeper gave a complete education about bees last week at the Black Mountain Tailgate Market

He put on his full gear when requested, and found the queen to show us

No she's not here

Somewhere in the highlighted area of this photo the larger queen is being served by the various drone bees.

I found out there's a Bee's Knees cocktail, with gin and honey and lemon juice.  It sounds like a good tonic...and leave out the gin for a great cough remedy too!

A bee carries pollen on his hind legs back to the hive

'Bee's knees' began to be used as a term in early 20th century America. Initially, it was just a nonsense expression that denoted something that didn't have any meaningful existence - the kind of thing that a naive apprentice would be sent to the stores to ask for, like a 'sky-hook' or 'striped paint'. That meaning is apparent in a spoof report in the New Zealand newspaper The West Coast Times in August 1906, which listed the cargo carried by the SS Zealandia as 'a quantity of post holes, 3 bags of treacle and 7 cases of bees' knees'. The teasing wasn't restricted to the southern hemisphere. The US author Zane Grey's 1909 story, The Shortstop, has a city slicker teasing a yokel by questioning him about make-believe farm products.

An enterprising dancer used "bees knees" to refer to her flapper style of dancing.

One tenuous connection between the bee's knees and an actual bee relates to Bee Jackson. Ms. Jackson was a dancer in 1920s New York and popularised the Charleston, being credited by some as introducing the dance to Broadway in 1924. She went on to become the World Champion Charleston dancer and was quite celebrated at the time.

But the standard definition of Bees Knees is something of "excellent or highest quality."

I gladly bought some Basswood Honey after tasting it.  It comes from a Linden tree, and was a batch that was expected to be Sourwood, a very popular variety here in North Carolina.  However this Basswood is much better to my taste...an enduring sweetness that is most sharp and deep.  I've been finding excuses to eat a little on toast or in tea daily since purchasing it.

Quote for today:

When I dare to be powerful -- to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.

Audre Lorde