Working the hives
New queen
My sisters and I have been watching a BBC TV series called Lark Rise to Candleford. One of the characters is “Queenie” the village beekeeper and honey mead maker. I find skeps a rather fascinating part of beekeeping history. Bees and beekeeping have certainly changed over the years.
In the apiary, queens rule. The queen bee determines the whole chemistry, demeanor and health of the hive. Re-queening is necessary for those city beekeepers who capture feral swarms. Putting in a friendly, docile queen ensures the “quieter” temperament of the colony which means they easier to work with and manage in an urban environment. I have found that many feral bees, after a few seasons, tend to get more aggressive. More often than not, they will breed mean queens. They usually make ‘hot’ bees that boil over when anyone opens up the hive and these hives tend to swarm more often. So, I opt to purchase a naturally mated queens from reliable sources. In a few weeks, the beehives are calmer, easier to manage, swarm less, and friendlier. This means I can work the hives in shorts, sandals and gloveless without being stung.
I’m trying a few new different things this year (obviously, last year didn’t work out - though I suspect no fault of ours), and we’ll see how it goes. It helps tremendously that I’ve grown up around bees my whole life and to me, beekeeping is one of the most rewarding and enjoyable things I can do. It’s addicting and the end results are, well, SWEET!
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5 Comments: "RE-QUEENING" »
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Bees are so fascinating. Have you ever read the book "The Keeper of the Bees"?
I equate re-queening a hive to be the same as dufusing a nuke, (no not the bee nuc). If you slip up once, that's it, your whole hive is gone. From what you said before I hope you do better this year. Good luck with your new queen, I hope she lays lots of brood for you. Happy apiary keeping.
-Quail's Hollar Farm
I am considering beekeeping as a hobby and have borrowed the book "The B4eekeeper's Handbook". Seems a little overwhelming.
Hey Justin, a bit later to getting around reading this, but as always with you guys, so informative and inspirational. I've been toying around with the idea of bee keeping for a while now, and eventually I will do it here in Baltimore City. When I was a kid my older brother and a young uncle both used to raid wild hives.
Hope you have better fortune with the bees this year.
James
@A.F. James MacArthur Ph.A.L.: Thanks!