When you are dealing with 50,000 tiny animals, it’s bound to happen. Someone is going to break a wing or spike a temp. During the last month, something is going on with our hard working hive and it’s not good. They are not flourishing in abundance. They are barely holding their own here on July 4th. But, let me go back to the beginning.
We are being schooled in Bee-Keeping 101 by our beautiful friend, The Bee Lady. Having watched over bees for a very long time, she knows when to celebrate, worry, or run. We listen intently when she visits every other week to help us work our hive.
The most important lesson she has shared is that bees can kill us. A few weeks back, while enjoying a day of working bees, she was stung 8 times in the head. Suffering a huge reaction, she went into anaphylactic shock and was taken to the hospital by ambulance. Rule #1. Keep phone handy. Rule #2. Keep Epi-Pen closer. Those are two rules we won’t soon forget. Luckily, with the proper medications and emergency room care, she’s fine. Since then, she’s been stung a couple more times with no reaction. Just a very weird situation that could have turned deadly.
Since our bees arrived in early spring, our teacher has been assuring us that everything has been proceeding in the right direction. Our queen has been laying eggs on schedule while awaiting the bloom of the Russian Olive. We fed the right amount of simple syrup and pollen patties. The honey flow should’ve started around June 1, but, alas, it never happened. The bees are now making enough honey for their survival. They should be making enough to overwinter.
Although every flower seedling was selectedfor the bees, they haven’t been as interested as in years past. The flowers that they should have been thankful for remain visited. The flowers that they shouldn’t be interested, such as Fox Glove, have been their favorite. (More on that one in a bit.)
We’ve been awaiting the sign of wayward wax on the top of their second large super to tell us it’s time for the honey flow. It hasn’t happened. In fact, the honey and pollen storage have stalled a bit, along with our queens production.
If it were just us, The Bee Lady would let us know where we went wrong. According to her (and the latest talk around town), it’s every hive in the area. No honey or pollen. Just hives that would die if winter were around the corner. Ours included. They may not be able to overwinter at this rate and we may lose this bunch to start again next year.
So many people have asked us when the honey will be ready. This year, it’s almost a certainty that there will be NO extra honey. We’ll be lucky if the bees can put together enough for themselves over a hard winter. And so it goes. Farming is exactly like this situation. Some years you have bumper crops. Other years, you can lose you investment in the blink of an eye. And so, we wait.
We did need to do some housecleaning for the little ones. It seems they decided to lay their comb in creative ways, not following the pattern on the ten frames in their home. Not sure why, it seems the hive construction might have been off on the proper dimensions that bees require. Even 1/2″ off can make the difference between behaved and unruly bees.
The Bee Lady and HHH took time yesterday to fix the mess. In doing so, they brought me 6 1/2 pints of raw honey to drain and place in labeled jars. Our honey name was chosen by HHH and certified by me. Winterpast Honey. Simple as that. So far, we have 14 4 0z jars of honey and 6 8 oz. jars. That’s quite a bit from just four wayward frames.
The talk around our area is that experts are on the way. They will be looking at every aspect of the hive decline in our area. Thank goodness they are coming to the rescue, for without pollinators, we’re all in trouble.
Through their struggles, the bees remain sweet and calm. They are carrying on while flying in and out of the hive to forage for food. Time is running short and winter will arrive sooner than it seems. Please pray for our queen and the survival of her littles. We’re depending on it.
Whatever you do this weekend, you might want to learn a little more about bees. They are one of God’s most precious little creatures. There is still so much to learn from them. Patience is a lesson HHH and I are working on through this experience!
More on Monday.