We’ve had bee fever for a few months now. It’s been a pretty huge effort prepping our apiary simply because it required manual labor to clear a space. Trees came down and were hauled away, leaves raked, gravel laid and hopefully soon we will have our hives in place. This probably could have been simplified by putting the bees in the yard but with kids, dogs and the thought of having to mow around the hives we decided to try and place them a little more out of the way. We’ll see whether or not this was worth the work or not in the future. To give credit where credit is due…one individual took on the majority of this task. He’s hoping this is the extent of his bee involvement.
The little beekeeper and I picked up our assembled hives (because I thought we had more important tasks to complete than trying to figure out how to properly put those boxes together) and jumped into the painting of the hives last week. Choosing a paint color was a little stressful. Traditional white vs all the other options available. Our understanding is color doesn’t matter all that much. We ultimately decided on a light (I hope it isn’t too dark) natural brown color. Nothing too exciting. But both little bees have big ideas on how to add some character and décor to each individual hive. I guess in the next week or two we will be busting out the pallet of colors so they can put their artistic touches on each. I’ll try to breathe deep and relax through that process. Stay tuned for those pictures. We did discover that when you have the hives (deep brood boxes and shallow supers) stacked and you paint…they will stick together!! Fortunately, our drone bee was able to muscle them apart for us. Next time we will paint them individually rather than all stacked as a hive.
We also will be finishing our beginning beekeeper class through Isabee’s this week. I’m still hoping the Eastern Beekeepers Association will provide a mentor for us. I’m blessed to know a few beekeepers – being a former teacher landed a few connections with other teachers that have been into beekeeping for some time now. They seem willing to help as they are able which is a huge comfort.
There have been a few moments that second thoughts have popped into my mind. We purchased some local honey from the bee store and I was reminded that I’m not even sure I like honey. I mean, it’s okay. And while $10 seemed high for a little jar of honey that was half consumed that day with eight biscuits, I thought to myself I could buy a ton of honey for the amount of money we have invested thus far. Compounded by the aggravation of sticky door handles shortly after that biscuit and honey snack…the realization that with honey will probably come a lot of sticky everything. There’s also the dreaded thought of “what if we are part of the 1% of the population that is severely allergic”. You know the anaphylaxis reaction where you swell suddenly and can’t breathe…but what are the chances, right? Or maybe I should call the pediatrician, see if we should have an epi pen on hand just in case? Do they even do that? It’s understood that as a beekeeper YOU WILL BE STUNG. But even at that, there’s something about the undertaking that intrigues me. The life cycle of the bees and their organized social societies within the hive. It’s not just about honey. It’s interesting. And while it’s still to be determined as to whether we will love it or hate it, I’m hopeful we’ll not only love it but be successful with it. Time will tell…
-Worker Bee 2021
Howards' Hives and Honey 