Esther and Jezebel

Now that I have two colonies because of catching the swarm, I identify the colonies based on the names I have given the queens: Esther (queen of the swarm group) and Jezebel. I got to see both queens one amazing day. Here is a not-the-best-quality picture. This one is Esther. She is beautiful with her honey colored body and black stripes and I can tell is a strong queen. The other queen I have named Jezebel. Jezebel is all golden (no black stripes). Although she has the "original" colony, I don't have the same affinity for her as I do Esther. But I am open to her amazing me as well. I cheerlead both of them for I know they have the winter in front of them that will be difficult and mean life and death for all. Bee keeping is anxiety as well as spirituality and love for the humblest of creatures.

The Swarm

Then one day I noticed my bees in a tree. It is exciting to encounter a swarm, but dismaying at the same time when you know they are your bees. Fortunately, collecting them could not have been easier. They were about 8 feet from the hive, in a small limb about four feet off the ground. They sure made it easy for me and I was sure grateful for that. A few snips of the branch and a gentle shake into the empty side of the hive and I was all set. I remember feeling that I had done something wrong and that is why they swarmed. I thought I was keeping a careful eye on increasing the space in the hive, but have since come to realize that although there was lots of space in the back by the honey frames, they probably swarmed due to crowding near the entrance.

The next day there was another swarm in a tree. This was a bit trickier to deal with because they swarmed around the trunk of the tree. From what I could tell, it seemed that the swarm I put in my hive was swarming again, or this was an afterswarm from the original colony. In any case, I was able to get them back into the second side of the hive. When I shook them in, they did a curious thing. All of the sudden, they all seemed to stop, turn their butts towards me, and fan their wings vigorously making a distinct buzzing sound. I have since learned that they were fanning the queen's pheromones outward to attract any wayward bees back to the group. The swarm has since stayed put and built up comb.

The Spring Install ReCap

I ordered my NUC (nucleus colony) and beehive in February. I picked up my beehive from the Rodale Institute in mid April, brought it home and painted the outside for weather protection, and with some help got the legs secured in the ground and the whole thing attached and level (having a level hive is very important for a top-bar hive so that the comb gets drawn out straight).

Picking up my NUC colony was an absolutely amazing experience. The feeling resembled that of bringing home a newborn baby. In the back of my VW were somewhere near 20,000 bees that I would be caring for. I felt super responsible for their wellbeing and thought about them constantly and dreamed about them at night. It was exhilerating but terrifying at the same time.

Installing the NUC into my hive was a real trip. I had only experienced handling one frame of bees one time beforehand at an installation demo. Now I had nearly 12 frames of somewhat-aggitated-from-travel bees to move. The install took lots of pauses for calm on my part. Three quarters of the way into the install, when I picked up a large bar of brood comb, half of it fell off. That nearly did me in. Bees everywhere, brood everywhere and substantial anxiety that the queen was on that comb and might have been squished. I think it took me nearly two hours to figure out what I was going to do. I did the best I could, and in the end the experience made me have to get real comfortable with the bees real fast . I am glad for that now, because it is so tempting to just get the bees in the hive and let that be that.

The Thomas Hybrid Hive

This is my Thomas Hybrid Hive. It is primarily a top bar hive, but with the option of Langstroth frames in the top super. All the wood it is made from has been hand-milled and barn dried, avoiding the chemicals of pressure-treated wood. Here is a picture of the bee's handywork on a top bar.

Natural and Sustainable Beekeeping (or more correctly stated, hive stewardship)

I jumped down the beekeeping rabbit hole when I registered for a beekeeping course at the Rodale Institute on a whim (gotta contemplate my "whims" more sometime, as they have played a huge role in my life...) And so I was introduced to Meme Thomas and the Thomas Hybrid Hive. So many things to write. To keep it brief, I'll say I learned it is vitally important that bees have access to water from the hive at all times and that propolis is important for holistic bee care. Also, don't use smoke when inspecting the hive- it stresses the bees unnecessarily, given their intricate smell-receptors and causes them to gorge on honey to prepare to leave the hive (thinking it is actually on fire). This stress lowers their immune response and reduces the honey resources they need to survive. I'm a very novice beekeeper at this point, but have never used smoke and have hardly been stung.

The start

To start, my main goal is to care for my bees so that they may survive. If they live through the winter, I will feel I have succeeded.

Secondly, I hope that hive stewardship will teach me more about the natural world, give perspective, and provide life lessons to contemplate. I hope to become involved in an urban beekeeping movement and hope one day to either keep bees in my (somewhat) urban yard or elsewhere in my wonderful city of Easton. I think that urban beekeeping has much to offer in terms of environmental education and urban gardening. I do not know anyone local to my area who keeps bees, but would love to be part of an Easton beekeeping community one day.