Frances and the Bee

It has been since spring that I made an entry here. We have enjoyed another full season of beekeeping, which we are close to wrapping up. Here are some summarized notes about this season: We started with two hives and a destructive visit from a bear (see previous post). The bees weathered the bear's disturbance really well. For the hive that was spilled all over, the queen was not injured, so the bees went on building the colony and I think that the reduction in numbers may have helped them not need to swarm. Both hives spent the summer on the farm. The hive that was left untouched was pretty feisty to start the year but became one of the most pleasant hives to work that we have ever had. I am really hoping we can get these bees through winter so that we can have more time with them. The farm continues to be a beautiful refuge for the bees, and we enjoy our moments there, too. The kids get to play and learn, and us adults get to stop and visit a while. This year has had some especi...

We are always seeing the changing seasons, aren't we? Fall really lets us know it, though. At the beginning of August, something fun happened this season that I wanted to share here before I give an update on our hives. Some friends of ours said they had bees going in and out of a knot hole in an old oak tree.  When we visited, we observed the activity and saw that they were honey bees!  Over the years of beekeeping, we have lost many bees to early season swarming, when half of a hive leaves with a queen to make a new colony.  We have always comforted ourselves that, although we are losing something, we are contributing to nature, but this was the first time we have ever seen a colony like this for ourselves. It was so amazing to see a colony "in the wild!"  I have heard positions on either side of whether honey bees should be considered "native pollinators" since they were brought to the U.S. from England. Honey bees have stolen a lot of the public attention as...

In my last post, we were holding our breath to see if spring had really arrived.  Update: it did arrive!  The unseasonably warm weather made a swift end to winter and gave all of our hives (as well as ourselves) an unpredicted boost. For the first time ever, all of our hives survived the winter.  We were checking on the hives and had a hunch that we needed to get to splitting the hives, but it seemed too early.  It turns out the bees were quite ready to split. It was wonderful and, on Mother's Day, forced us to "level up" our beekeeping - in more ways than one! We were finishing our family time together outside when our company noticed "the bees were really busy."  Mr. Bee and I saw that they were coming rapidly out of one of the hives and flying up and around...and away.  We could even hear a difference. This was a swarm. Swarming is the honey bees' usual way to reproduce and make more colonies. Imagine a hive has survived winter.  The weather is warm...

I realize that I think of updating this blog much more often than I do.  The beekeeping seasons are full of decisions, notes, and moments I would like to remember, but time just passes so quickly and the days are full.  This post has been something I have been putting off, though.   In late July, we lost Lee, who I called, "Mr. T," here on the blog. He was a friendly martial artist and retired correctional officer, a veteran, a naturalist and musician. He had been a friend to our family for over 30 years. He had a very short battle with cancer. Lee was the reason that we started beekeeping instead of letting it remain a daydream. Our bees have been kept on his land and he was one of their biggest cheerleaders. The last time I saw him, he brought us cold glasses of water while we were doing an inspection in the summer heat. I told him I wanted to update the blog again (since he was one of the handful of people who really read this), but that I wasn't sure I shoul...