Charlotte's sweet beekeeping adventures at Bluebird Gardens
Older bees make the wax that houses new bees and honey.
Bees eat about 8 pounds of honey to produce 1 pound of beeswax.
Settlers brought honeybees with them to the new colonies in 1622 as an inexpensive sweetener, to make candles and to use beeswax as insulation between log cabin cracks.
Gertrude hive was host to a mouse over winter. The mouse nest covered 5 of the 10 frames and discouraged bees from using the hive entrance. It's another reason beekeepers put entrance reducers on hives in fall, it's an attempt to discourage mice and other small creatures from moving but there's no guarantee.
There's usually an ongoing debate about whether or not to winterize bee hives. During winter 2011, I added a styrofoam coat to my hives, leaving an opening around the hive entrances. Right before Christmas, two pickers with a truck stopped by and asked if I needed the "refrigerators" hauled off.
It wasn't until they left that I realized they were talking about my hives!
When I ended up with extra honey in 2011, I decided to sell it at a new antique and pre-1970s collectibles store off Interstate 44. I packaged the honey in 2 oz. glass jars so people could sample strained raw honey and honey with comb just as it comes out of the hive. Honey is also a wonderful hydrating facial. Each jar contains enough honey for 6-8 facials.
Friends in my master gardener group gave me this charming card for my birthday. See the three-dimensional bee at the top of the card?
Love it!
Charlotte
When temperatures broke records in 2011, leaving bees without pollen, they started to visit hummingbird feeders for sugar water.
I turned several hanging bird baths into "bee bars" by adding gravel and sugar water, 4 parts water to one part sugar.
Charlotte
Once I determined I was missing a bee queen in Gertrude hive, it was time to add a new one.
The queen travels in a plastic container with a worker bee and a marshmallow stopper at one end.
Once placed inside the hive, it will take worked bees a couple of days to eat through the marshmallow to release the queen. By then, they should be familiar with her smell and open to accepting her into the colony.
Long live the queen!
Charlotte
Ajuga, or Johnny Jump Up, is another favorite perennial spring flower.
Missouri bumblebees establish ground nests and like Ajuga because the flowers grow low to the ground.
Bumblebees can repeatedly sting but only do so if their hives are threatened. They are also partial to yellow and blue flowers.
Charlotte
Honeybees live to collect pollen, which is the basis of bee bread, which feeds young bees, and honey.
Bees pick up pollen on back leg hairs, which when full gives them the look of saddle bags. Depending on what flowers they've visiting, their "packed pollen" will be different colors.
Charlotte
One of the most frequent questions people ask me when I'm talking bees is how do I know which hive is which.
Frankly, I cheat.
My bee hives have initials painted on the back side - G for Gertrude, M for Mildred - so I can keep track of the colonies.
It also helps bees find home when they return to their hive.
Charlotte
Besides pollen, bees also need a source of water.
I have several birdbaths around my property bees regularly visit. I added rocks and twigs to give them a safe landing spot.
They also seem to prefer water with flavor, such as leaves and other garden debris.
Charlotte
Bees have schedules. They are usually out foraging by 9 am and back to the hive by sun down.
Bees from the same hive visit about 225,000 flowers per day. One single bee usually visits between 50-1,000 flowers a day, flying an average of 13-15 miles per hour.
A hive entrance can look very much like an airport take off and landing strip!
Charlotte
When a hive has a problem, bees will come up with creative alternatives to stay in the hive.
In this case, Gertrude hive had winter boarders in the hive first floor so bees used a crack in the back to get into the hive. The mouse family destroyed about half the frames and were too big for the bees to chase out.
After removing the damage the mice did, I had to close the hive top for a few weeks to encourage bees to use the front door again.
It's not so bad in early spring when hive numbers are low. By end of July, though, there can be as many as 80,000 bees in one hive and they will need a much bigger door, and home, to get in and out!
Charlotte
Ants will sometimes establish themselves on a beehive roof. They are attracted by honey and dead bees.
Although ants don't bother bees, or hives, long-standing beekeepers suggest pouring an inch of salt in a circle around the hive to discourage ants.
I haven't tried it; I don't mind the ants but the question is, do the bees??
Charlotte
Hummingbird wings beat 53 times a second.
Honeybee wings beat 200 times a second, or 11,000 times a minute.
Bees use that motion in summer to help stay cool. They will line up at the hive entrance, facing inside, and use their wings to move air through the hive.
Charlotte
I have one lavender planted in my raised bed vegetable garden.
Every morning, I find a number of bees in the flowers including Missouri bumble bees.
Bees love most herbs so if in doubt what bees like to visit, plant herbs!
Charlotte
We think of honeybees visiting flowers but they also visit blooming bushes and trees like Missouri Redbuds. The variety of pollen gives honey its distinct, and varied flavor.
Professional beekeepers mix all the honey to make a homogeneous flavor.
I like to bottle different honeys to enjoy the variety of flavors bees produce. My bees have yet to produce two batchs of honey that taste the same!
Charlotte
My bees were locally-raised and bred to be tame and good honey producers.
Although they are very tame, people still have some reticence to be around them so I use a garden flag to warn visitors they are approaching the apiary, or bee yard.
It took me a long time to find this little garden flag. For some reason, most artists draw bees as male.
As soon as I get an indelible marker, I'm adding long eyelashes so it looks more like a "she." Most bees are female.
Charlotte
Besides ants and a variety of bees, sugar water also attracts a variety of butterflies such as Red-Spotted Purple Butterfly. See the red dots on the butterfly's wing tips?
Beautiful butterfly, especially when sun reflects off of it.
Charlotte
This Missouri "Impatient Bumble Bee" made me laugh.
Doesn't she seem intent on breaking into the sugar water feeder to get a drink??
Charlotte
Beekeeping Information & Tips
