More about bees

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One of my regular readers recently told me that she wishes I would write more about bees. Since I’m nothing if not customer focused (!), I’m happy to do it:

Here in NJ, the spring came early, and the bees have been as busy as, well… bees. If you’ve never been watched a hive in the spring, you might not know what this means: bees coming and going constantly at the entrance of the hive; the queen laying eggs; workers building comb and feeding new bees. When bees are busy, it’s also a great time for the beekeeper—they’re so intent on going about their business, they seem to notice only a little of the beekeeper’s intrusion in the hive. And I always enjoy seeing things go well—the ecosystem thriving.

In fact, like many beekeepers this year, I have a problem with this productivity: the bees are too crowded. And when conditions are crowded in the hive, the bees start to prepare for swarming—reproduction on a colony level. This is a good thing for the bees, but not so great in a suburban neighborhood where you’d prefer to keep the girls at home.

This means I’ve been as busy as a bee myself—adding empty frames to the brood nest, shifting around other frames to make conditions feel more roomy. But in the end, I had to split the biggest hive on Tuesday–now I have three hives. (Oddly enough, on April 24 last year, I went from one hive to two.)

You’d think that would be the end of it. And, in fact, maybe I’ve averted the swarm. But now I’ve got to worry that the new split succeeds and that the old hive effectively raises a new queen–that these new ecosystems continue to thrive. But the bees don’t care. While the flowers bloom and the nectar flows, they stay busy.

In a couple of months: honey.

 

6 thoughts on “More about bees”

  1. So interested in your tweet as my son is a bee keeper–actually of my sons are. One lives in Kentucky and got the California son into it. CA son now has 5 or 7 hives–and I have one. Very interesting process of actually getting that honey in the jar–but so worth it!!

      • I’ve also kept bees off and on. templeterracegarden – they’re not at all agresgsive, except when jostled or in bad weather – my kids played in the yard within 15 feet from the hives and were never stung (except when walking barefoot over clover!).I need to get some again. All the parts from two hives are waiting in my barn. You’re lucky to have them in the yard – my pear trees were LOADED back when I had a hive going.

    • Oh awesome! What a great pjrceot. The bee populations need to be supported. :)How do the bees in your own yard behave? I’ve pondered getting a hive box, but I’m a little apprehensive. We haven’t had any problems with the hundreds of bees who visit our garden daily, but I’ve read that they can be more aggressive near the hive since they feel a need to defend it.

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