BEES AND SOY
Labor day weekend is a wonderful time for picnics with friends and
family. We had a really remarkable experience with our cousins over
Labor Day at a picnic with them. They are SAD eaters and they choose a
steak and salmon to barbecue. My wife and I ate soy hot-dogs and
soy hamburgers (Yves'). We barbecued them also.
There apparently was a large bee hive not too far from us. I knew we
were in trouble after I saw the first bee (or wasp). I knew that in
amatter of minutes that worker would go back to her hive and do a little
"dance" to tell the rest of the workers where our picnic was. Sometimes
I try to put out a "meal" for them at another table, hoping they will
leave us alone, but mostly they like to "arrive" at both locations. They
don't sting, they just are hungry.
To our amazement, they completely ignored our soyfoods! They loved the
salmon mostly, and would not leave my wife's cousin alone. They landed
on it to try to carry pieces off. Not one flew around my plate or even
seemed to "notice" the soy foods I had. I put no butter or fat on any of
my food, and they also left my corn alone. I had no fat or oil on my
hands to attract them either. It was a totally fascinating experience.
Had we all eaten soy products, we probably wouldn't hav
e attracted any bees at all. Interestingly, they were not particularly
interested in the "sweet" fruit salad we had out either. They went
crazy over the salmon, and anything that seemed to have
fat on it, like baked potatoes with butter (which of course I don't
use.)
I wonder if anyone else has had a similar experience. I guess that even
hungry bees aren't attracted to soy products.
Mike Rosenblatt
ROSEY1@xxxxxxxxxxx