Not only beer on the White House lawn. How about a bee hive too?

In case you've been in a cave, the major news talk this past week has been about the President having beers on the White House with a police officer and a college professor who had a conflict with one another. I mean on all the stations, television and radio, and in all the newspapers too. These three men sat down on the lawn and had beers and a lot of talk about conflict. Of course, the media went nuts and made all sorts of pictures in the yard at the White House.

But I didn't see this picture until tonight. While I was doing some research on building bee hive stands, I happened to come across this photo of the White House bee hive from fellow beekeeper Mistress Beek. That's right, ladies and gents...the very hobby that we all adore has made it all the way to the big white house at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue! And all started by a fairly new beekeeper too! And based on the picture, those are some busy bees working at the nation's capitol! If you study the picture carefully, you can see two brood boxes and three honey supers. Busy girls indeed!

U.S. News and Word Report reports that the hive was installed in March of this year.

It says: "Charlie Brandts, a White House carpenter for 25 years, is now the First Beekeeper. He got the ball rolling when he told some of the East Wing staff about his hobby. "I was thinking about how cool it would be to bring bees to the White House," Brandts says. Word made it to chef Sam Kass, who asked Brandts if he could make White House honey to use in Obama family recipes. On Tuesday, Brandts brought in one of his hives and put it near the garden.

While he's been in beekeeping for only three years, Brandts sounds like a longtime pro. "I'm trying to promote beekeeping," he tells Whispers. He started raising bees for the same reason the first lady dug her garden: "I wanted to eat healthier," he says. That meant shifting from sugar to honey. "But it kind of gets expensive," he says, "and I thought it can't be too hard to put together a few hives in my yard" in nearby Fairland, Md.

While the hive has been welcomed by the first family, Brandts concedes that some workers had to be convinced that honeybees are largely harmless. (Ironically, it was some of the security staff who worried about getting stung.) As with many people with access to hives, the first family might get hooked on bees, and Brandts hopes to bring more hives in. "And if they don't like them, we can always take them out."

Just think. The President could have an ice cold beer (or maybe some mead) while sitting on the White House lawn and watch the bees work their magic!