Azalea Queens?
For about 3 years I have been thinking about honey bees. My kids and I stumbled on a few library books about bees, and so… it began. The more I learned, the more questions I had… and I couldn’t stop thinking about having a bee hive of my own— to observe, protect, and enjoy, okay, to love.You probably know pollinators are in trouble. The European honey bee, Apis mellifera, is hanging on by a thread. Pesticides, factory-style honey farms, and the parasitic mite Varroa destructor make life hell for the honey bee. Plagues of honey bee deaths have sadly become so disastrous they are known as “Colony Collapse Disorder”. In case you don’t care yet, it is said that 1/3 of the food we eat in North America is dependent on honey bee pollination. As feral hives of honey bees struggle, commercial apiarists (beekeepers) must haul stacks of beehives on flat bed trailers from state to state to pollinate blueberries, apples, cucumbers, watermelon, almonds, cashews, and more. This practice spreads honey bee disease and stresses the bees’ health. So, in theory, keeping a hive in your backyard, as a hobby, can help bees reestablish healthy populations. However, there are many other things that draw me to the bees.Bees have a social structure and self-organizing behavior that is both mysterious and mesmerizing… the field bees, the nurses, the guards, the fat drones, the Queen! They build perfect, beautiful hexagonal cells in which they pack pollen, raise the young, and store nectar… transforming it to honey. Honey bees communicate with a complex array of glands that produce pheromones— the alarm, the footprint, the forager, and others— including Nasonov, also called “come hither”. Obviously I have a slightly annoying obsession with bees, I’ve been told that makes me a “beek”. My kids and husband are enjoying learning right along with me. We have two hives now and the house is thrilled.Now the hard part— I hope to have healthy bees, but my goal is a little tough. I am trying to raise my bees as naturally and chemical-free as possible. Unfortunately, beeswax and honey is often found high in pesticides, some which were applied to the beehive itself to control hive beetles and mites— “coumaphos” is a particularly nasty story you don’t want to hear, trust me. I have been warned by more experienced beekeepers, that if I don’t start applying the poisonous treatments soon, my bees won’t survive one year. Is it true? I don’t know, maybe I am naive. It would be nice if there were others in Wilmington who could share ideas, support, advice. I know only a few people who seem to be “backyard” or hobby beekeeping in the area. Are there more? Who is raising bees naturally? Anyone in Wilmington trying the more primitive “top bar” method? Who is looking for chemical free methods to raise healthy bees locally? Port City Beeks, are you out there?
Image from flickr by autan
Port City beekeepers, are you out there? (Grove Project: Azalea Queens?) http://tinyurl.com/ck6zob #ilm
Updated the photo to get rid of that pesky Varroa mite. Thanks for the tip, Amy — and great post! -ed.
Reply
What a wonderful obsession! I had no idea that so many of the foods I eat are dependent on bees. I hope you have good luck in keeping your hive natural. Please continue to post updates about the progress of your colony.
Also, can you recommend any outstanding books on the subject of bee colonies/beekeeping?
Reply
I hope you have good luck and a good crop!
Word is, we need some non-wingnut beekeepers and beekeeping products in this town :-/
Reply
The bees are doing well… I just had a really nice visit to the hive… 3.5 frames are fully drawn comb, I will add another hive body when 5-6 are drawn out. Bees were calm, capping their brood and packing away pollen and nectar. They seem to have quit drinking the sugar water I started them on… I think that is a good thing!
Wonder what’s blooming?
Maybe we’ll have Tupelo Honey. Check out this cool link…
http://www.ncbeekeepers.org/coast.php
Reply
Couple of pictures from Amy’s hive
Reply
the first picture is not my hive, it is an old hive that has been tucked away in the woods of New Hanover County for at least 3 years without much attention, the owner said he takes a bunch of honey off it every year and doesn’t treat it with any chemicals. You can see the bees seem to be forming a swarm… possibly became so populated they are splitting into another colony. Honey Bees are gentlest in that state, and you can see they are really mellow with my friend Julia.
the second picture is my hive… 8 frame, 2 deep, cypress. I got my first sting on Saturday, but after the initial searing shock in the tip of my finger, the pain faded very quickly.
Reply
Wow…We just saw the documentary Silence of the Bees last night online — about CCD…That’s scary stuff!
See PBS > Nature > Bees for the full show and lots of resources, including updates from some of the interviewees.
Reply
I commend you, I also have formed this strange obsession with having my own backyard bee hive. I loved reading your story- please keep us posted!
Reply
An update from Amy about the beekeeping:
“Keeping you posted… we took just a little honey off one of the hives yesterday. It is pale and mild– I am not sure of the nectar source, but it is delicious and beautiful! We are very excited that the bees are so healthy and doing their bee work. I would love to hear how other local beekeepers have found their hives this summer.”
Reply
Oh man, that Brinker Estates honey is great looking! Champagne!
Reply
I have kept a colony of bees for 3 yrs. without chemicals– all natural. I use herbal smoke and a couple other herbal remedies. That is all. They are thriving.
Reply
amy Reply:
July 25th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
Christina, that is great news, are you in wilmington area?
Reply
Christina Reply:
August 5th, 2009 at 2:06 pm
Amy,
I am located near the main Penn State campus (In PA). I will offer advice though e-mail though if you wish. A lot can be accompished that way. What kind of smoker fuel are you using?
Reply
I just stumbled across you site! Have you been able to avoid chemicals? Do you feed sugar water?
We noticed few bees last spring and so we researched the honeybee situation and my husband, a custom woodworker of 25 years, has started making and we are selling The Garden Hive. Our customers tend to be avid gardeners who want a sustainable relationship with the honeybees (let them reproduce, produce honey and honeycomb, and build strong immunities and defenses according to their own instincts), good pollination, and a low-tech, low-maintenance hive. We also include a stand and an observation window. We think our hive is much more attractive too in the landscape than any of the others being sold.
Please see our blog thegardenhive.blogspot.com. I hope to hear from you about the success you have had, as we are just starting with beekeeping ourselves.
Carol Rawleigh
Reply
amy Reply:
September 14th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
Thank you for writing Carol! Congrats on starting your own small business… Your hives are gorgeous, truly. I am only 6 months into beekeeping, and so far, so good. Although, it is slightly more complicated than I thought it would be. I think the advantage with your garden hives is the observation window. One thing I have learned is that every time we “open” a hive, we break the propolis seals that the bees have built to keep out pests. Every time we open the hive, it sets the bees back, as they have to repair the work. You also have a chemical free advantage in that you aren’t using sheets of beeswax from a factory to start the bees off, these sheets have large residues of pesticides in them, and that makes the bees sick. Sooo, I would totally recommend a “new-bee” starting off with the top bar hive like yours.
I have treated my home hive with a baited trap for the small hive beetles, mainly because their increasing numbers scared me, and my friend Julia’s hive was decimated by the little creeps. The forest bees, my stronger hive, remains completely chemical free.
I will keep up with your blog and hopefully one day can try a Garden Hive… maybe you could find a distributor in Wilmington… try Progressive Gardens. http://www.progressivegardens.com/
They owners will understand exactly how awesome these hives are. Good luck! ~amy
Reply
This is one of the most fabulous retail locations I have ever been too.
All they do is sell organic Artisan Honey and honey products. There seems to to lots of advice and help and education through them. I brought home some tupelo honey in wildflower cone that was like butter and some sage honey that is: fantastic. Check it out:
http://www.savannahbee.com/our_story
This would be a fantastic idea to do downtown in a large space. The savannah store was filled and we were there for about an hour tasting honey, watching bee films, etc.
Reply
I just saw this tweet and thought I would post. I have been very encouraged over the last 2 years here and bee population thriving.
Please take cake of those bees. This is very scary.
bobwork The apiary (bee hives) at Lewis Farms suffered a collapse. The honey they have on sale now is the last they’re likely to have for some time.about
1 hour ago from web
Reply