Bee Keeping

beneficialbugs.org

My husband, James, is a little suspect of the Master Gardeners.  He knows that I was "garden crazy" before I retired, and now that I have time on my hands and am part of a "garden crazy" group like Master Gardeners, there's no telling what kind of projects and undertakings are headed his way!!!

On the morning of the MG's February meeting, I was babbling on about the speaker for the day and his topic - bee keeping.  Before James left for work, he apprehensively asked, "So when are we getting bees?"  Bless his heart, I guess I can get a little carried away!

Well, much to his relief, we are not getting bees any time soon.  But the presentation given by Aaron Jennings of Jennings Apiaries was really fascinating.  Aaron has fifty hives located around the Ruston area, and sells honey as well as other products.  At his website, www.jenningsapiaries.com, he states:

     From the beginning I have been dedicated to raising my bees in a truly sustainable and ethical manner. To demonstrate my dedication to the honey bee and providing the highest quality honey and bee products, I joined the Certified Naturally Grown movement.

Here are my notes from his presentation:

Apiaries are places where beehives of honey bees are kept.  The name comes from the scientific name of the honey bee, apis mellifera.

There are three ways to get started in bee keeping -
     1. catch a swarm
     2. buy package bees
     3. buy an established hive, or nucleus hive

How to attract bees - rub bees wax inside an empty box

Initial start up cost for bee keeping is about $400

You get no honey the first year of bee keeping

Hive maintenance takes about one hour a week

Bees regulate the temperature of the hive at about 94 degrees in each season of the year

Life span of a hive is about 5 years

Hives are referred to as "hot" when the bees are "mean".  Inserting a gentle queen into a mean hive can mellow the atmosphere of the hive.  This is commonly called "requeening a hot hive".

Bees have short tongues, so they like wide, shallow flowers.

Bees will fly 2-5 miles from the hive searching for nectar.

If a bee stings you, removing the stinger is necessary.  The stinger is barbed and difficult to remove from your skin. Therefore after the sting, the bee actually disembowels itself trying to wiggle free, leaving the glands that pump the venom behind on your body.

Apitherapy is the medical use of honey bee products.  Honey bee venom is anti-inflammatory.

You can rent hives!!  (James will be so excited to hear this.)  The bee keeper gets the benefit of varied nectar from your site and you get some of the honey.  The bee keeper provides all of the hive maintenance.

OK, so all of those things were very interesting, but as gardeners the most important information Aaron emphasized during the presentation was our responsibility toward the honey bee.  Colony Collapse Disorder is believed to be caused by commercial agriculture.  Gardeners must be very careful about using pesticides and fungicides. 

Pesticides containing neonicotinoids are systemic chemicals. This means they are absorbed by the plant, making the plant itself poisonous to bees.  Neonicotinoids have been banned in Europe, but are still in use in the US. 
 
Fungicides are also dangerous because, as Aaron explained, honey bees have a natural fungus on their foreheads. This fungus is used in the packing of pollen within the hive.  Use of fungicides in our gardens can interfere with this process.

For more information on protecting honey bees, visit http://www2.epa.gov/pollinator-protection. 

                                                                                                         Happy Gardening,
                                                                                                                     Shelli

How doth the little busy bee
Improve each shining hour,
And gather honey all the day
From every opening flower!
~Isaac Watts, "Divine Songs

 

 

What do you suppose?
A bee sat on my nose.
Then what do you think?
He gave me a wink
And said, "I beg your pardon,
I thought you were the garden."
~English Rhyme