Given that this was “B” month, how could we not look into the world of BEES!

First up was watching The Beekeeper, starring Jason Statham as a retired military operative who is now a one-man wrecking crew, unleashing  revenge on scammers who delight in and succeed in robbing people online. The Beekeeper now lives out in the country raising bees and selling their honey. If you are game to go along on the ride and accept exaggeration, humor and predictable outcomes, you will enjoy this film. Unfortunately, if you have been subject to scamming recently, you may find yourself getting angry and a bit too involved in cheering on the revenge. But the movie does remind us to be extra aware of phishing scams these days.

Second, was a look into the evolution of the phrase “the bee’s knees.” There’s a lot of speculation as to how this phrase evolved, but it’s widely believed it was first used in the 18th century to refer to something very small, although its present meaning is “something marvelous.”  This seems to be a reference to a dancer from the 1920s – Bee Jackson – and her active knees when she popularized the Charleston, or to the goodness of the pollen load carried on a bee’s back legs. We prefer the dance origin as the thought of someone’s “active knees” gives us a chuckle.

Third, we wondered: do bees actually have knees? Yes they do. Bees have six legs and each leg has a joint between the femur and tibia, known as a knee. The two front legs are used to clean the antennae. The middle two legs are used for walking and packing the pollen basket, which is situated on the two hind legs. The bee’s knees work together with the other parts of the legs to move the pollen along.

And finally, we couldn’t let this post end without trying a new cocktail: THE BEE’S KNEES. This cocktail was made from gin, a mixture of hot water and honey to make a syrup, lemon juice, and ice. It was very easy, quick and quite delicious. The Bee’s Knees cocktail was also developed during the Prohibition Era. Honey and lemon juice helped to sweeten the drink and hide the taste of poorly made alcohol. It was not too strong although it did creep up on us after a while. We both really enjoyed it. In fact, it was the bee’s knees!