Springing Forward

The swarm that started it all!

With the hope of ending 2016 a bit stronger than this last year (hopefully by tripling our hive count), this is the time of year when we have to do some planning. Of course, we plan the best way to split hives – there are a couple ways to do that. We plan the best strategy for watching out for and dealing with swarm cells, when the hives get too big and decide they want to make a new queen that will then take most of the young, strong bees to a new hive. Swarms are also a means for us to grow our yard, though, because when a swarm, either feral or from another bee yard does a surprise landing in some stranger’s back yard, we can go out and gather it up. It was a stray swarm landing in our yard four years ago that made us start this journey in the first place. We will be trying some ‘split hives’ where we put a divider right into the hive, like a bee condominium, with queens in each side. This allows them to keep the hive warm yet, and gives them a chance to get established without having to start completely from scratch. We will do a blog on this as we get into actually doing it.

Early hive activity 2016.

We have to plan on what purpose our bees will fulfill. They could strictly produce honey for us and this usually involves putting them into orchards and crops for the purpose of pollinating those crops. This is a very important part of having honey bees, and some would even argue that it is the only reason for having them. We could put pollen traps on the hives and gather the pollen for sale, because of the medicinal values. We could do likewise for propolis, which can be used in natural therapies. Some people raise bees simply in order to create more bees, breaking up the hives frequently and allowing those fragments to grow into full hives for sale, or for their own use. Queen rearing is a big business, and takes a special skill, because the queen cells are grafted into several dedicated frames, and are then caged and sold. There are even some apiasts who gather bee venom. Just about everything about bees can be used, so the options are many. Thankfully we don’t have to commit to just one thing, and can try our hand at several of them.

Another issue to make decisions on is where to put the primary bee yard. Right now, we have a small yard near the house, but if we are going to grow the number of hives, we also have to grow the area, then make sure it will be safe from any rather unwelcome guests, including (but not limited to) skunks, racoons, and bears. Since we have been spending the last few days refencing the property, we have been able to give this problem a bit more consideration, and believe we finally have a spot picked out for it. The next step will be to get it fenced and set up for moving the bees. Of course, not all of them will go to one spot in our yard. Hopefully we can find several other locations to set them out, allowing them to access more sources of pollen, and also to ensure that if something happens to one yard, we still have some bees to carry on with.

While it might be right that these plants are
protected from unwanted pests, they fail to
mention how deadly they are to pollinators.

Being avid gardeners at heart, we also need to consider what plants we want, and where we want them, to offer the best advantage to both the gardens and the bees. Some plants are just not what the bees want, while others can attract bees from miles away. Finding out which is which is a much more challenging undertaking than we thought it would be, because opinions differ greatly for many plants. Ideally we will avoid double-flowering plants – the ones that originally had just one layer of petals but now have been hybrid to the point of having two or even three layers of petals, making the flowers much fuller. By making them fluffier, it also makes them harder for the bees to find the pollen. We also must avoid any plants containing neonicotinoids. ‘Neonics’ are absolutely NOT bee friendly.

We also need to consider the flavors our plants will add to the honey. Some plants, like sunflowers, add no noticeable change to flavor but are an excellent source of pollen for bees (and the birds love the seeds all through the fall and winter). Others, like the blooms on the locust trees, add a wonderful flavor to the honey that is easily detected, and in some areas will add value to the finished product. We have a lot of locust trees on our property, and will soon have more, but we are also leaning toward planting more lavender. Alyssum, cosmos, and of course, dandelions are all plants that bees love, and that are vital to them. Planting some of these near the vegetable garden will ensure that all our plants are well pollinated and produce as much as possible – well, not the dandelions; the wind will take care of planting them all over the yard. It already looks like we are in for a bumper crop this year.

One of our bees on an apple blossom. 

The final consideration in choosing plants is blooming season. We want our bees to eat for as long as possible, but sometimes there are dry spells in a season where not much is happening, at least as far as flowers are concerned. Living in a rural community, we can count on the alfalfa and clover to provide for them throughout the summer and fall. We know that corn crops will do nothing, but berry crops will be wonderful in the spring. Of course, the orchards need bees, and our bees need fruit trees, so we have that one covered, at least for this year. We need to find plants, like primula, that will bloom early in the year, and some, like goldenrod, that bloom late. The value of the plants to the bees also will vary because of geographic location and anomalies, so it’s all a learning curve, but we’re more than happy to experiment to see what we like, and what our bees like.

It goes without saying that there are many more things to think about and plan for, like keeping the bees healthy, and the need for water, but at this time of year, these are the priorities in our bee yard.

BooBoo Bear was just a little guy last year, but even when little
these guys can do a lot of damage to a hive. 

He bee? Gee, bees!

Yes, we are talking about drones today – the male of the species. There was some discussion about titles for the blog today – Drone It Make You Want To Go Home, and Droneo oh Droneo. All three are relevant. Drones are the playboys of the hive set. They’re born, they mate, and they die. Well, if they’re lucky, they mate (although that could be subject to interpretation, I suppose).

Today, while watching the hives in action (a not rare pastime around here), we were able to see the drones outside the hives. The workers were working – some bringing in absolutely HUGE loads of pollen, some cleaning, some defending the hive. The worker bees are all – surprise, surprise – female. The workers are the smallest bees in the hive. The drones are slightly bigger, and the Queens outsize them all. We’ll talk more about the workers, and the Queens, later on in the year. Right now, it’s drone time! (although we were absolutely thrilled to see so much pollen being gathered at this time of year).

Drones – they take the longest to mature (no, we shouldn’t be surprised at that, should we?). They are distinctive because of their size, but also because of their huge eyes. You would think that they are built this way in order to better defend and protect the hive, but no. They have no stinger, so they are not a defensive creature. When they hatch, they are fed and cared for by the workers. Then they leave the hive during the day to try to find some sweet new Queen bee on one of her (usually) three nuptial flights. When they do find one, they lay on the charm, hoping to be one of the twenty or so men she will take a shine to. Here’s the thing though – once they have mated with her, that one time, they die, because she rips off their reproductive organs and carries them with her. She stores the sperm in her spermatheca where she can then get it when she is laying her eggs (which she will do all day, every day, for the rest of her life).

Worker bee on the left side of the opening, drone on the right.
See the difference in their eyes. 

When the hive needs drones, the Queen will lay unfertilized eggs that will then become males. She never breeds again, other than on her nuptial flights, and no mating is ever done within the hive. When a new Queen is ready to be bred, she finds drones from another colony, thus keeping her hive strong and healthy. A colony will produce several hundred drones (compared the tens of thousands of workers it produces) so seeing the drones is always a good sign of a healthy hive.

Workers pushing a persistent drone away from the hive.

But, females can be pragmatic critters, and when it comes time to prepare the hive for winter, they are worried about having enough food to last. They know the males will do nothing but help deplete stocks, and they know that the queen can create new drones within 24 days, so when the going starts to get tough… the men get going. Yes, the workers will force the drones from the hive, which is again another death sentence for them. (To be fair, they only live about 4-6 weeks anyway.) As we watched today, the workers from The Dregs were having no argument. The drones were being pushed out, sometimes dragged out, and occasionally wrestled out of there! They didn’t want to go, but then again, they were living a pretty charmed life – no cooking, working, cleaning or helping with the kiddos. In a hive, if you don’t work, you don’t last.

Pushing another persistent drone out the door. 

It’s another sign that the bees are getting ready for winter. We will be helping them in the coming weeks, but for now, as long as they’re pulling in the pollen, we are going to let them. The nights are cool, but there are still some good bee-flying days ahead… unless you’re a drone. 

Workers heavy with pollen. The one had so much she toppled
over when she landed.