Beekeeper's Meeting of the Minds

We have one hour until the librarian gives us the boot and locks the building. Our eclectic group gathers to ask Sam Comfort www.anarchyapiaries.org any bee related questions. Sam has an answer to every one and if he doesn’t have an answer, he has a theory, but if you ask him how to deal with mites, he’ll say, “Don’t ask me about treatments.” I gather he believes that the bees are going to have to deal with the mites on their own and that the mites are going to out-smart any of our efforts to get rid of them.

The wealth of bee-knowledge that Sam has amassed comes from years of working for commercial beekeepers and trial and error in his own bee yard. I think Sam is part bee or is at least morphing into one. The guy literally lives with bees twelve months a year. Tonight he’s sleeping in a tent next to his hives. In the winter he travels south with commercial beekeepers and tends to their bees-for-hire.
Modestly, generously, and with a wry sense of humor, Sam dispenses his wisdom free of charge. He seems to enjoy the open flow of ideas and discussion. And no matter how great an authority he is on the subject, he is quick to look to others for their opinions and thoughts. Chris Harp www.honeybeelives.org walks into the room and Sam’s face beams with the pleasure of knowing he’s in the company of another expert and kindred spirit. He immediately asks Chris about the unprecedented early arrival of so many regional flowers, “What does this mean?”

Sam and Chris are among the few pioneers who are trying to undo the damage we’ve done to the bees. They believe the diseases that are currently plaguing our bee population are due in large part to greedy human intervention. We’ve simply asked too much of the bees and we’ve asked them to do everything on our terms.

For example, my starter kit bee hives came with prefabricated, plastic comb. This comb is made up of holes that are much larger than a bee would historically build them. Why? Because the man made comb makes honey extraction easier and the larger holes mean more honey per hole. But if you look at bee comb made of wax, you’ll notice that all of the holes are not the same size. Every hole is smaller, respectively. Then some are made slightly larger for the drones and others are made slightly smaller for the worker bees. That’s the way the bees have made their comb for thousands of years. It is believed by pioneers such as Sam and Chris that the smaller holes allowed the bees to maintain a more mite and disease resistant hive.

I am grateful to have access to these two teachers. Their devotion will, hopefully, save our bees and ultimately, (as dramatic as it sounds) our food supply.

The Russians Finally Came

For the last month I’ve been telling my friends that, “The Russians are Coming.” They arrived at my house yesterday and I could hardly contain my excitement. These particular Russians are bees.
Right now I have two hives and they are filled with Caucasian and Italian bees. In general, their abdomens are lighter in color and they are particularly gentle. You can spend about a half an hour looking around in their hives, whereas the Russians are not quite as tolerant. The Russians have darker abdomens and will give you about fifteen minutes, maybe twenty, to root around in their hive, and then they lose their patience and start buzzing around to let you know that it’s time to leave…or else. That’s not pleasant for the new beekeeper. Me.
My Russian bees came via Chris Harp, my teacher aka. The Bee Whisperer and officially known as The Bee Doctor. (As always, if you’d like more information on Chris, you can find him at http://www.honeybeelives.com/). Chris received the Russians in the mail on Friday. They’d probably been packed into their little box on Wednesday and then traveled to New York in what must have felt like the middle seat in a packed plane in economy class. Needless to say, they were more than ready to see their new accommodations.
The Queen Bee is packed into a little box inside the larger bee box. Before the rest of the bees are “installed” the queen bee box is removed. She waits in her little cage until all of her workers are safely placed in the hive. Then one removes a little cork in her cage and quickly places her in the hive. The workers will have to chew out a small piece of candy in order to free her. In a couple of days, I’ll re-examine the hive to see if this happened successfully.
Our installation was not without its excitement. The queen bee box came unstapled from the big box and fell into the larger bee box. So, brave and Zen-like, Chris had to stick his hand into the box and retrieve the queen. Just so that you have the full picture (provided) and grasp the reality of the situation, Chris had to stick his arm way down into a box filled with about 10,000 bees. None of the bees thought that was a problem and Chris retrieved the queen and placed her in the hive.
Next up: I will stain a new hive with propolis and catch a swarm.