I’ve eaten a few bugs in my lifetime. Not voluntarily, of course. Although a delicacy in some countries, I do not find the taste or texture of ‘insect’ appealing at all. And I’m not talking about the bugs that all of us unknowingly consume. We’ve heard about the ones that crawl into our mouths while we are asleep. Fact or fiction? Here’s what I found in Forbes:
Answer by Matan Shelomi, Entomologist, on Quora:
“In terms of creatures that crawl into your mouth while you sleep … likely zero. Insects are not that stupid. They will not crawl into the warm, moist, CO2-exhaling cave that is pretty obviously the entrance to something big and living. Granted, some insects like roaches do occasionally crawl into ears and get stuck, but that’s very rare. The idea that we swallow a certain number of spiders every lifetime/year/night is just an urban legend.”
A relief! What about in our food?
“That’s a different issue. Because crops are almost always infested with insects, the harvests will usually have pieces of insect too.”
The article goes on to summarize that: “…while these levels are a maximum; most food sold will be far less contaminated. So, assuming the food you ate was as defective as possible, you may have eaten enough parts to make a few whole insects … but you’d have never noticed, and it would all be extra protein anyway.”
Gross, but ok I guess, since we don’t know we’re eating them anyway. The snacks I involuntarily eat are the ones that fly into my mouth while I am out jogging. The small bugs that zoom straight to the back and get swallowed right away aren’t as gagging as the bigger ones that get stuck and are unable to be spit out. The quandary arises – try to cough it out and risk breaking it into a bunch of pieces, or bite the bullet and just swallow. Either way….. eeeewww!
Our chickens’ view of the creepy crawlies is very different. They scratch and dig and peck to find the biggest, best, juiciest bugs to gobble up. Our rooster, Doug, is an expert. He’ll hold up giant worms or moths and call the flock over. “Look what I have for you,” he seems to say as the ladies nearly trample each other to be first to get there.
I, too, look for the biggest bug but I’m not looking for a meal. I’m looking for the queen. Beekeepers across the country are in constant pursuit of her location. Hives are assembled in a variety of different configurations and everyone has their own method of beekeeping. But the common denominator in every single hive is — her royal highness. Though she is the biggest insect in the colony, and with a very distinct shape and color, our queen is now hard to find. Upon each inspection, I go in fully intent on spotting her. She is most likely to be found on the frames containing newly laid eggs. There is your first challenge. Those eggs are white and small. Smaller than a grain of rice. If eggs are present and they are standing straight up, they are freshly laid, which is a good indication that your queen is alive and well and close by. When we first set our hive up back in the spring, she was in her own compartment so I was able to get a good look at her. She’s beautiful! And I was fortunate enough to find her a few weeks ago, too. Although her footprints are everywhere inside the hive, I just can’t seem to locate her anymore. There are many more bees in the hive now than before — our hive is practically busting at the seams! That is a good problem to have … as long as the bees don’t get the notion to swarm (an article for another time). Also, the queen will hide if the colony feels exposed or threatened. I’ve learned that many beekeepers are unable to locate their queens. Some of us are still learning where to look. One blogger observed:
“When the queen makes her way across the frame, she seems to move with a purpose. She charges quickly through worker bees, who often move out of her way, leaving a wake of empty comb behind her. This movement creates a visual break in the pattern of the hive. Some beekeepers are able to find their queens just by searching for this disruption. The pattern is changed also when she is still. A resting queen will have a circle of worker bees around her. It is an almost flower-like shape, each worker a petal facing the queen in the center.”
I’ll definitely keep that in mind when I peek into the hive this weekend. I find beekeeping fascinating! “Isn’t this cool you guys?” I call to my flock as they circle the fence for a way in to join me. “I know why you want to come in here you little stinkers. There will be no eating of the bees!” Our biggest hen, Brownie coos at me with that cute pleading cluck of hers. The others chime in, hoping I’ll open the fence. “You have plenty of your own bugs to eat over there,” I console as I toss a handful of cherry tomatoes in. Our garden harvest is surprisingly huge this year and we are happy to share the overflow with our chickens.
I watch them happily devour the red fruit and think to myself, how easy it would be if I could actually let the chickens into the bee yard to help me locate the queen. I know they have excellent radar when it comes to finding the biggest and best. I know for certain that they would all want to be first to find the largest bug! Of course, I could never let them, but I sure bet our chickens could, in fact, find our queen!
Cindy Bezanson