Growing Hives and Abandoned Drones

My hives are growing up. I haven't written in a while because the summer brings a lot of waiting, hoping and observation-not a lot to report on! But things are growing and changing very quickly. My days of observing my hives with no shoes on are over! All three hives have hatched at least 2 sets of babies and are growing quickly, which means that there are a lot of new kids anxious to prove their worth by stinging the guy with no shoes on!

As you can see in some of my pictures most beekeepers start out with a box with 8 or 10 frames that hang in the box. This box is called a deep super. When my deep supers got about 3/4 full I placed another deep super on top of them. When I say full, I mean that the bees have built comb on about 8 of the 10 frames. The only reason modern beekeepers use frames is to give the bees a head start on their comb and also to have an easy access to the hive and honey. Honeybees tend to move up, so the queen and hive naturally start building and laying eggs in the new deep super. They will continue to work in the bottom one also, laying eggs, hatching babies, cleaning the cells out, storing food and starting over. Looking at one of these hanging frames you would notice that the queen starts laying eggs in the center of the frame, while the outside edges of the frame would have honey and pollen stored for winter eating. Beekeepers call this part of the hive a brood. You don't take honey from this, it is completely for the bees.

So, how does one get that precious golden honey from those busy bees in the brood? I tell people that beekeeping is just a matter of manipulating the bees to do what you want them to do.

Here is how it works. When my 2 deep supers are full of brood I will put a screen over the top of my hive proceeded by another box called a shallow super or a honey super. The shallow super is just like the deep supers except half the size. There is no magic in it being smaller. The real reason the shallow super is half the size: when these supers are full of honey they can be very very heavy...someone had a good idea on making them smaller, thus lighter. In these small supers there are the same amount of frames that will be filled only with comb that has honey in it. This little screen that I put on under the shallow super is the manipulation and the secret. Since the hive naturally moves up, they will go through the screen to get to the shallow super. They begin to build comb up there but when the queen tries to get up there she realizes that she is bigger than the rest of the bees. This screen or queen excluder jails the queen to the two bottom supers so she cannot lay eggs in the top supers. The result is comb that only has honey in it. The secret is out!

As you probably figured by this time there are no or very few drones (men) left in the hive. I see a lot of dead or drunk looking ones hanging around the outside of the hive. This is because they have been kicked out and have no ability to protect themselves and don't even know how to forage for food.

I was thinking about those poor drones the other day and realized that there were times in my life that I felt exactly like a drone; helpless, useless and forgotten. Though I greatly see God's hand in the life of those little bees, I do remember that I am not a bee. I am Don; loved by God. Even if I feel or experience times that feel like I have been used up or forgotten, the truth is that I (and you) am not a drone...and for this I am very thankful!

"Fearfully and Wonderfully Made"

Today I showed a group of friends our backyard apiary. Some were filled with awe and curiosity, some (Valerie!) were scared senseless and some were just putting in their time until the dessert came out. I found myself doing what many beekeepers love: teaching people who know nothing more than "bees sting" about the amazing universe of the honeybee.

A day in the life of my bees would be something like this: When the sun warms the hive they get ready to take off on their hunt. The bees prepare for a hard day of work, knowing that they will make at least twelve foraging trips in a single day; visiting several thousand flowers. The newly birthed workers will fly around the hive, memorizing the exact spot of their home so that when they fly up to 5 miles out, they will know exactly where to come home. The older workers take off and land giving the impression of a little landing pad. They stop at the entrance and walk their goods into the hive and then take off again. A low, soft hum floats out from the hive as the almost supernatural beat of the bees' wings and the vibrations of their thoraxes create what we know as their buzz. As a musician I am extra amazed that their buzz is a single note in the key of C-sharp!

The workers are all women and by this time they have kicked the majority of the drones (men) out. The experts say that the workers do this because they know that the men are just taking up space and eating their food (sounds like some women’s complaints about their couch potato husbands!) These workers forage for nectar and in the process they pollinate many plants and trees that would suffer greatly without their assistance.

The goal of my bees this time of year is to get their brood, or nest to a certain level. They know that winter is coming so they are desperate to build cells for the queen to lay eggs in, collect nectar and pollen for the long winter and for feeding. Over the course of about 12 months each of my hives will build themselves up to about 10,000-60,000 bees! That will be about 10 pounds of bees in each hive, wow!! For this reason the workers are in a frenzy to get things done and forage for food. If one of the workers finds a “pot of gold” as far as good foraging goes, they will go back to the nest and recruit nest mates by doing a dance. This dance tells the others how far the “pot of gold” is and its location. It will also give nectar taste samples to its sisters. Not only do they buzz in the key of C sharp, they dance…my bees are musicians! The faster my workers dance, the richer the nectar they have found. Would someone really like to tell me that God was not involved in such details as this? How truly creative He is!!

Water is also very essential in the process of honey making. This is why you often see bees around sources of water; they need it to mix with the nectar in the hive. This is another creative aspect of God: the bees will have to reduce the water they have mixed with the nectar so they vigorously buzz their little wings to reduce it down, in doing so they also give themselves a very fine air conditioning unit as the air flows over the water for those hot summer days!

I guess I should close and just remind you that if you think that God has forgotten you or isn’t really interested in where you are or what you are about, you should remember those busy bees in my hives and know that He has thought through every detail of their lives AND ours…you also are “fearfully and wonderfully made!”

The swarm, the new hive, the risk

Once someone finds out you are a beekeeper, its one of those things that they don't forget! I had 3 calls this week re: swarms of bees in trees, bushes and the walls of peoples houses. Today I went to an apartment complex to remove a swarm of bees scaring their tenants. I slowly cut, branch by branch, dropping clumps of bees into a box as the residents looked and screamed and gave their little bits of information that they thought they knew about the honeybee. It was great fun acting braver than any of them and correcting most of their knowledge about the honeybee...I felt like I was at a State Fair demonstration, the only thing missing was cotton candy.

A mature hive will think about swarming in the Spring when they detect that their hive is getting crowded or that the existing queen is weak. They will then produce another queen who will fight for the number one position with the old queen or any new queens developed at this time. If she doesn't fight she will take a flight and 30 to 70 percent of the hive will follow her. Get this: When the new queen is ready to come out of her cell she actually makes a loud noise; well, loud for bees! Its as if she screams out a war cry to get everyone ready for the flight or the fight!

Swarming is Gods way of letting a hive grow bigger, but I also think that its His way of helping beekeepers get more bees! After I got the big clump of the bees in my box I waited to see what the bees would do. Sure enough, after some convincing from me they all crawled into my cardboard box, I shut the cover and put it in my van. From an onlooker it probably looked like someone trying to capture a mini tornado in a box. The bees desire to stay in the box gave me a pretty good indication that the queen was in there also. Nothing compares to the feeling of having a live box of bees in your vehicle, hearing their loud buzzing and knowing that if they wanted to, hundreds of them could easily slip out of the hole in the top of my box and sting me many many times!! I got them home safely and decide that it was time to have a hive in my back yard, so I prepared my empty hive, smoked the bees to keep them calm and dumped them in. Today they are buzzing like crazy...I think I did it!!

As I watched the bees dance around the hive it reminded me of something that I had found out about myself while in counseling. I am a risk taker by nature. I love risk, the problem is that many of my former risks had been unhealthy (its a wonder I am not dead and its pretty wonderful that I still have all my appendages intact!) I reminded myself of what I tell people when they ask "why beekeeping?" "I don't do drugs, my wife won't let me risk jumping out of a plane until my children are grown and she knows my life insurance is up to date...beekeeping is the best risk I could think of..." Those buzzing bees are a gentle (unless Im getting stung!) reminder that God did not create me as a man to sit and watch T.V. all day. God called me to take risks for Him. The risks He wants can be much more difficult than jumping out of a plane. What about the risk of being looked at as simple or stupid for believing in a God bigger than myself, the risk of failing when trying to accomplish something great for Him, the risk of rejection. Sometimes I will get stung in the process but healthy risk doesn't just end with the event, it always leads to a better thing...today that better thing is the honey that Im dreaming about in the fall! I encourage you to get up and take a risk today that could change the world...AND make you smile!

More than a sting

When I started studying bees I was amazed at their roles in the hive. I had never looked much past the fact that bees sting. But, there's this little universe buzzing around that I never noticed. Here are just a few highlights that I think are pretty amazing.

1. There is only one queen in each hive. When she first becomes queen she takes a flight. All the male bees follow, hoping to have a "night with the queen". I was thinking that the guys had a pretty great job until I found out that the ones lucky enough to have sex with the queen pretty much get their insides ripped out in the process...bummer. When she is done with her flight she re-enters the hive. She will probably never see the light of day again but instead will lay eggs 24 hours a day for up to 5 years. Get this legendary number: the queen can lay as much as 1500 eggs per day, wow! She has a job and she does it well. The queen is bigger than the other bees, but she is easily lost to the beginners eye. Locating the queen and knowing how she is doing is pretty important to the beekeeper. For this reason, when I got my queens I got them marked so that I could easily find them.

2. The "drone" or the male bees are used for one thing-mating. Once the "flight" is over the hive will kick the drones out because they do little more than eat and take up space. The drones don't even have stingers for protecting the hive. In other words, the hive is run by women! Some drone needs to start a "rights for guys" campaign!! If the hive discovers that their queen is weak, they will birth a new queen and some more drones, starting the process all over again.

3. The "worker" or the female bee literally works herself to death. She will forage up to 5 miles out every day of her life until she dies. I kind of think these women bees deserve this after the way they treat those males!! The workers forage for food, protect the hive, clean up, and babysit the eggs and larvae. The workers have a really good pulse on what is needed in the hive and if they feel the queen is weak, they will produce another one to fight off the old one. I think that in the kingdom of the bees the females have the ruling rank!

The next time you think that your role in life is lousy, or you feel overworked or under appreciated you really need to consider that little bee landing on your lavender in the front yard and smile at the great opportunities you have been given by God!!

The beginning...again.

Hi, welcome to my blog on Beekeeping. I will be amazed if anyone ever shows an interest in my adventures with bees, knowing that it is not the usual looking hobby for someone to have! A brief history of how I got involved, with an expanded version later on is probably necessary right up front.

About 18 years ago I went through a very critical time in my life. At this time I left a very wonderful church staff to deal with some things in my life and to go to counseling full time for a year. My counselor asked me one day if I had any hobbies. I laughed at him and responded "Im a pastor, I don't have time for hobbies!" This was both a proud statement and a response from a broken person. Through his help Sherri and I began to dream outside of the ministry. Our lives had only been the ministry and there was no life outside of my identity as a pastor. One of the dreams we had was to live on a farm, raise our kids on a dirt road and have a couple chickens in our yard. The words of my counselor haunted me though; "what are your hobbies?" or better said, "what relaxes you, what energizes you, what makes you smile?"

I spent a lot of time at a consignment bookstore and one day came across a beekeeping book. I bought it and was fascinated with the biology, and social life of bees. The craft of beekeeping seemed so earthy and unique...I was hooked! A long journey that eventually moved us to Minnesota and back into the ministry set us up for our dream to come true. We found our farm and I bought 2 beehives. That dream lasted for a couple of years until we took a new pastoral position in Fremont, California. I sold my hives, brought bits and pieces of equipment with me and left the "hobby" down a dirt road in Minnesota.

This year I was faced again with the question "what makes you smile?" I could not deny that I missed beekeeping, knowing that it held such a reverent place in my heart. I had learned so much from the bees and I had learned to relax or get stung. This hobby, therapy, joy had haunted me long enough. A week ago, we painted my hives, repairing 9 years of weathered pieces in the side yard, bought more equipment and found a ranch near Sunol, California to put my bees...The beginning...again!

This blog will hopefully help you get to know the fascinating life of the common honeybee and in the process you will probably get to know me a little better. I hope that you enjoy my ramblings about what makes me smile!