Today is World Bee Day

(This is an piece I will submit to someone, sometime when it is finished.  For now, edits and comments are welcome.  Today is World Bee Day.  I am delighted I am a beekeeper!)

I Am A Beekeeper

Most peoples’ identity evolves and changes throughout their life.  Somehow the idea of raising bees trickles into the back of your consciousness and the next thing you know, you are pouring over “Beekeeping for Dummies”, thinking, I need to do this. 

Before I jumped into the endeavor, however, I assigned my husband, Mike, the task of reading the entire book, realizing this effort would be a team effort.  There were many confounding things in this book; diseases, predators, mold, colony collapse and other unsettling enigmas. I would need help on this project.  He read the entire book.  I ordered my first bees.

Mike and I are firefighters.  When we met, I watched his volunteer effort at the fire department and declared I too wanted to be a firefighter.  There is a thing in the fire department about getting bees.  “What?  You’re getting bees?  Getting close to retirement then?”  And so it seems to go.  We fire folks are attracted to bee keeping.  We like fear and we understand fire.  These two components serve one well in bee keeping.  And yes, I am getting close to retirement, close to celebrating my twenty year career in the fire service.  Soon there will be plenty of time to tend my bees.

Those first bees arrived on a warm, sunny Mother’s Day.  I took significance from their delivery on this day, realizing that my “mothering” would be directly related to their success here in the high Wyoming mountains.  Mike and I loaded the plugged entrance hole cardboard box in the back of the open pickup truck, secured it in place, and drove to the hive’s location.  With a smoking smoker, completely suited up, and filled with trepidation, we opened the cardboard lid.  The sound of a zillion angry bees filled the air.  This was the moment when every strand of DNA in my body screamed, “Drop the box!  Run for your life!!”  I took a deep breath, applied more smoke from the smoker, and in a short time, the bees had a new home.  A bright orange box with their frames moved inside.  Looking back, this may be one of the easiest starts to a new hobby.  At the time, it was truly terrifying.

In preparation for this new thing in my life, I sought out the advice of my local Ear, Nose, Throat doctor to see if he could detect any allergies to bees.  “Ah,” he guffawed, “don’t worry about it!  You’re an EMT!  Carry and EpiPen and if you have any problems, we’ll treat them here!”  This did not quell my anxiety of the inevitable bee sting.  It would take over a year to know if I would react.  Full suited in a bee suit, wearing leather gloves, I was impenetrable.  Looking back, this was a great way to build confidence as the bees and I became acquainted.  I learned the sound of happy bees and the sound of angry bees.  I watched them flying and learned what it felt like to be hit in the veil by an angry bee. Finally, one warm summer afternoon, I pulled the gloves off and got stung.  It was a non-event.  No reaction.  Hearing that bee stings boost one’s immune system, I now give a little thanks to my dying friend after getting stung.  She was just doing her job in trying to protect the hive.  I admire this kind of selfless dedication. 

For the first year of this endeavor, I could not say “I am a Beekeeper”.  I would say, “I have bees”.  This was a statement of truth and did not change until a great deal of book reading, class taking, and studying occurred.  There is much to learn about bees.  A recent writing about bees bragged, “there has been more written about honey bees than any other insect.” 

It is impossible to assess how many backyard beekeepers there are in the United States.  Unlike commercial beekeepers, a hobbyist is not required to register their hives.  Definitions of a hobbyist beekeeper range from one who has five to 25 hives.  Many state statutes define the number of hives to be considered commercial.  As an agricultural product, commercial beekeepers may reap an agricultural tax advantage.   

The pandemic hit too late for most budding wanna-be beekeepers last spring.  By the time we were all locked down, bee packages were delivered or enroute to be delivered, spoken for since the beginning of the year.  Bees are delivered in either packages or nucs.  Packages have several pounds of bees with a caged queen hung in the center of the package, screened on the sides with a wooden frame for support.  These bees arrive hungry and ready to start work.  The second delivery, a nuc or nucleus colony, is made in a small cardboard box holding frames with bees, the Queen, and brood – eggs and larvae to hatch.  Unlike sourdough bread and gardening, most aspiring beekeepers could only read and dream about beekeeping.  Prices for this year’s bees increased significantly, probably a reflection of supply and demand.

Beekeeping is a perfect way to find one’s Flow.  The author, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, in his book “Flow” speaks to the importance in a human being’s life to find Flow.  It’s that place where you are doing something and not thinking of anything else but what you are doing.  Flow is critical to good mental health.  Working with bees, you will think of nothing else but the bees.  It is not uncommon to think of your bees often, even when not working them.  There is a connection built between the bees and the beekeeper.  The beekeeper feels very responsible for the colonies, their well-being, and ability to withstand the many things out to get them.  For those lucky enough to have bees during the pandemic, many report the need to spend time with their bees, to relieve stress, and to get away from the craziness of 2020 deep within their hives.  

Losing a colony of bees is an emotional and financial loss.  Bees, like any other “animal”, have numerous threats to their survival.  A long, northern US winter is one such threat.  Bees do not hibernate for the winter, like, for example, a grizzly bear.  The colony of bees get very close together and shiver to stay warm.  The eat the honey they have stored and what is left for them.  Take away too much honey and your colony will not have the ability to shiver the long, dark winter hours away.  They will die.   This event is a very distressing event.  Especially for the beekeeper. 

The varroa mite, a parasitic creature that literally sucks the fat out of a bee, is another threat to the humble bee.  Even with a small mite count in a colony, the mites break down the strength of the group.  When a mite attaches to a bee and begins sucking away, the mite also introduces disease.  Understanding mites, their life cycle, their impact on a colony, and how to destroy these carnivores without killing the sacred bee is an important study for the beekeeper.

And then there are the nasty spores of Paenibacillus and Melissococcus plutnius bacterium.  Just their names turns an average beekeeper’s face two shades of white.  Commonly referred to as American and European foulbrood respectively, the bacteria turn healthy glistening white larvae into a mass of goo.  European Foulbrood can be detrimental; however, American foulbrood creates spores making the introduction of these spores into a hive a catastrophic event.  Everything associated with that hive – including tools and potentially gear – must be burned to kill the spores of the insidious, highly contagious and lethal spore-forming bacteria.  All it takes is one bee drifting around to bring the lethal disease to a hive.   In urban areas where hives are sprouting up like restaurants are shutting down, one infected hive could spell contamination and destruction for many in the infected colony’s range.  A bee can forage over 8,000 acres.  Imagine that hive on a map and draw a circle two miles out and around.

Foulbrood almost stopped me in my tracks.  Fortunately, both American and European foulbrood are relatively rare.  The beekeeper should always be on the lookout and be aware, however, these bacteria are no reason to not take up beekeeping.

Recently enrolled in an online beekeeping class, I asked the instructors what are the most important thing a new beekeeper should know.  The first instructor said a beekeeper must know how to light a smoker and keep it lit.