# Do people "raise" bees or "keep" bees? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 20, 2022, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-raise-bees-or-keep-bees/959828 "2022-02-20T17:53:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2022, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-raise-bees-or-keep-bees/959828/41 "2022-02-25T18:13:58Z")
Tough times to raise _or_ keep them: > **[Beekeepers using tracking devices to protect precious hives](https://apnews.com/article/technology-health-business-united-states-theft-449f7234e63f8ae757bf75b1866e51b4)** > > WOODLAND, Calif. (AP) — For a few frenzied weeks, beekeepers from around the United States truck billions of honeybees to California to rent them to almond growers who need the insects to pollinate the state's most valuable crop. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2022, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-raise-bees-or-keep-bees/959828/42 "2022-02-25T18:23:48Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > in the 1960’s, so please consider that anything I say is not current technology. > > I kept up to 4 beehives in my suburban back yard near St. Louis as a hobby. > > :snip: > > Laws and zoning regulations were a lot different then, and many suburban areas will prohibit such activities now. I was lucky to live in a development with lots about 1/8 acre in size and many gardens, and behind our neighborhood lots was an undeveloped forest and meadow of about 40 acres. Beyond that was open country farmland, pretty ideal for this. My immediate neighbors took an interest in my hobby, but didn’t participate or get close, and I made sure they were the recipients of honey. I doubt if any neighbors more than two even knew I kept bees as you couldn’t see the hives from the street. Move that a couple hundred miles northeast and you have my dad. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2022, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-raise-bees-or-keep-bees/959828/43 "2022-02-25T18:27:49Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > How old (or young) are you? Do you have any current association with local schools? I have heard these terms from several principals, teachers, and students over the past few years. Perhaps it’s a regional thing. In my case, I’m 46 and my kids are 7 and 5 in two different systems: one public, one private (Catholic). It is “math class” to them and the parents I’ve talked to (the school website refers to it as “math,” not “maths.”) I have not heard “phy ed,” either, but – as I said before – I don’t really hear talk about that subject. When I do, from my kids, it’s the colloquial “gym.” Had I heard “phy ed” from anyone, I’m sure it would have stuck out to me. A search of local media shows the shortening “phys ed” being used, but not “phy ed.” I do, however, see Wisconsin using that term. The usages might be regional. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2022, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-raise-bees-or-keep-bees/959828/44 "2022-02-25T18:43:13Z")
Never heard of “phy ed,” but I’ve often heard of “phys ed.” ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2022, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-raise-bees-or-keep-bees/959828/45 "2022-02-25T18:46:36Z")
I’ve heard of Dodi phy-ed. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2022, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-raise-bees-or-keep-bees/959828/46 "2022-02-25T19:01:33Z")
> [@Bonum\_Legatum](#): > > Although “I have bees” does sound like a medical condition. I have [the Bee’s Knees](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0923/2946/products/851087000250.jpg); it’s a tasty ‘condition’ ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2022, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-raise-bees-or-keep-bees/959828/47 "2022-02-25T19:56:41Z")
Here’s an excerpt from an article that coincidentally just arrived in my inbox today. Apparently I am not the only one who has observed “maths” used in a way that used to be “math.” > **[40 obsolete technologies that will baffle modern generations](https://www.pocket-lint.com/obsolete-technologies-that-will-baffle-modern-generations/?amp%3Butm_medium=email&utm_source=digg)** > > We're taking a nostalgic walk down memory lane, looking at some of the biggest, best and most memorable gadgets from the last century that have been outdated, outmoded or just forced into irrelevance by better, modern technologies. > [scroll down to] > > Calculator watches > > When were kids at school our teachers told us we had to learn **maths** because we wouldn’t have a calculator in our pocket all the time… ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2022, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-raise-bees-or-keep-bees/959828/48 "2022-02-25T20:03:58Z")
“Maths” is the British phrase, I believe; most Americans say “math.” ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2022, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-raise-bees-or-keep-bees/959828/49 "2022-02-25T20:26:49Z")
The author of that article is from the [UK](https://www.pocket-lint.com/info/authors/adrian-willings) where it has been “maths” for as long as I can remember. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2022, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-raise-bees-or-keep-bees/959828/50 "2022-02-25T20:38:46Z")
> [@Schnitte](#): > > Incidentally, my native language, German, has a dedicated word root for the activity of keeping bees, and the person who does it ( _imkern_ as the verb, _Imker_ for the person). The English “beekeeper” is the equivalent of the German “Imker”. The second part of each compound is cognate with the other, “keeper” ~ “ker” (both derived from [Germanic “kazą”](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/kaz%C4%85)). The weird part to me is that English “bee” is a straight-forward descendent from [Indo-European “bʰey-”](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/b%CA%B0ey-), but the “Im” part in German appears to be from [West Germanic “imbī”](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Reconstruction:Proto-West_Germanic/imb%C4%AB). It has connotations of a swarm of bees rather than an individual, which makes sense in terms of what a beekeeper does. Old English had that word as well “imbe”, but it didn’t survive into Modern English. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2022, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-raise-bees-or-keep-bees/959828/51 "2022-02-26T02:38:07Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > The author of that article is from the [UK](https://www.pocket-lint.com/info/authors/adrian-willings) where it has been “maths” for as long as I can remember. Right: the photo of telephone booths gives it away. (Plus, I wasn’t familiar with some of those cassette tapes. I assume at least some of them were British/European.) ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2022, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-raise-bees-or-keep-bees/959828/52 "2022-02-26T15:29:23Z")
The date of the article is also not in the US format. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2022, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-raise-bees-or-keep-bees/959828/53 "2022-02-26T21:02:40Z")
You raise BEErS and keep BEES. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2022, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-raise-bees-or-keep-bees/959828/54 "2022-02-27T20:49:18Z")
And in the UK, you watch the BEEB. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2022, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-raise-bees-or-keep-bees/959828/55 "2022-02-27T21:34:01Z")
> **[Adrian Willings | Pocket-lint](https://www.pocket-lint.com/author/adrian-willings/)** > > Welcome to Pocket-lint, for the latest product reviews, including news on gadgets, digital cameras, home cinema, audio, cars and mobile phones. > [@](#): > > Adrian Willings Contributing editor > > **Knowledges:** Virtual Reality, Robot vacuum cleaners, Gaming, PC gaming, Augmented Reality, Laptops, > > **Location: Colchester, UK** > > **Languages:** English So far it’s been confirmed that “maths” is a UK-ism. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2022, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-raise-bees-or-keep-bees/959828/56 "2022-02-27T22:00:38Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > The date of the article is also not in the US format. I guess there were lots of clues that the article had UK origins - I figured it out by searching the page for “our” and sure enough the word “favour” came up, so that’s how I knew it was British. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-raise-bees-or-keep-bees/959828.md?page=2)