Bzzzzzz.....

Yesterday, I got to play beekeeper for a few hours. Tony, a neighbor who lives down the road, invited me over to help him check his hives. He and his wife have a hobby farm--with draft horses (HUGE), big gardens, a beer brewery and beehives. After suiting up in a white alien outfit and gloves, Tony and I dug into his hives, looking for honey, drones and swarm cells.

The biology behind beekeeping is complex and fascinating. Each hive has ~20,000 female worker bees who collect pollen and nectar, 1,000 male drones whose sole function is to impregnate the queen and 1 queen who constantly lays eggs for the 2-3 years of her life. In a healthy hive, the queen is producing a large brood, the workers are storing lots of excess honey and the drones are few.

Tony was checking the hive, on the look-out for swarm cells and excess drone cells. When the queen is ineffective or unwell, the hive creates several swarm cells, in which a new queen is born. Once these new queens hatch, the kick out the old queen who swarms away with half the hive to make a new nest. The newly-hatched queens fight to the death to see who will take over the hive. Beekeepers tend to dislike swarms, as it lessens honey production and disrupts the hive, so Tony was trying to remove swarm cells before they could hatch.

We were also on the lookout for drone brood cells (with the larvae of drones inside). The queen is insemenated only once in her lifetime, so drones have little to contribute to the hive. They do not work, mooch off of honey and wait to compete to impregnate a new queen. So, beekeepers try to limit the number of drones in the hive, as they deplete the honey production.

Although we didnt catch sight of the queen yesterday, I did get to see great examples of drone cells, worker brood cells, capped honey cells, eggs, larvae and worker bees. I was surprised to notice my own gut response of fear and a desire the swat the bees buzzing around me. But, slow movements and calm is the best way to keep a hive calm while examining it. Tony said I could come over and help him extract honey sometime in the coming weeks. I am considering signing up for an Apiculture course at U of Minneapolis to learn more. And, who knows...maybe there is room for a hive or two in Pilsen? :)

Stickily and sweetly,
Lindsay