Late Summer Beehive Update

 

The bees have been hard at work all summer, a very hot, humid and dry summer at that.  Perfect for bees!  The hive is almost 2 years old now and I fully expected there to be honey and sure enough there was when I opened the hive for inspection the other day.
Spring and early summer's flowers have nectar flowing which allows the bees to make honey whereas most of the summer there are no nectar producing plants in this area.  The next round of nectar producing flowers will be golden rod that is just starting to bloom and will soon make the bees drunk on both pollen and nectar.  I will remind you that nectar is 70% water and 30% sugar and the bees have worked at it all summer to flip those number by drying the nectar turning it to 70% sugar and 30% water which is actual honey.  The bees have also capped a good portion of what they made for storage. The frames with capped honey are quite heavy.  And those with uncapped honey glisten in the late day, late summer sun.  Simply gorgeous.  There was something quite hypnotic and peaceful about opening the hive to find very mellow bees that seemed to be enjoying summer as much as I was.  I barely needed the smoker to calm them.  All in all the hive looks good.
There are 10 frames in each of the upper "super" boxes where the honey is made and the bees had filled about 2/3 of each.  Interestingly though they fill the middle frames and leave the outer frames.  My friend Steve tells me that they prefer to move up when completed with a frame rather than out.  I simply did some re-arranging in hopes of getting them to use more of the frames now that the golden rod is about to put them into overtime.
I doubt that I will extract any honey from the hive this year even though it is so strong but in my opinion not quite strong enough and I really want them to have a nice supply for winter.  Perhaps next year.  For me bee-keeping is a hobby and I have no intentions of selling the honey.  We would use it here for ourselves only and if I have any leftover my friend Timm wants to make some mead (beer made from honey) with it.  I truly love the fact that this hive is doing a very small part in making the environment better.  Remember that without bees our food supply in fruits and veggies would not exist.  Think of what that would do to both humans and other animals.
Side note: all those nasty ground "bees" (most likely hornets) that you are finding in your yard that are uber aggressive are not honeybees and are not as important to our eco-system.  They are nasty hornets that will attack and sting without much warning.  If they pose any threat to you, your family or pets take them out.

The first 2 photos and the 1 at the top are of unfilled comb.  It is stunning in its beauty and complex simplicity (think about that).

Here in the upper left you can see where the bees have capped the honey.  The lower right is what the beautiful golden honey looks like prior to capping.  The smell is intoxicating.

In this photo looking down into the hive between frames you can see just how close together they are.  The frames become connected as the bees "glue" the frames together using a substance they make called propolis.  I have to use a hive tool that looks like a paint scraper or chisel to separate and move them around.  The glue is VERY strong!

This frame probably weighed at least 5 pounds as it was full of capped honey.  These bees couldn't have cared less that I was pulling the frames out, moving them around, etc.  They didn't fly away but stayed on the frames continually doing their work.

A side shot/end on shot of what the capped honey looks like.

Bees Loving the Unseasonably Warm Weather

Back in mid-March we had some of the most unseasonably warm weather that I can ever remember having.  I'm talking in the mid to high 80's for an entire week straight.  It re-charged the mind, body and soul and confused the plants and wildlife alike.  While the bees may not have been expecting warmer temps, especially not that warm anyway for at least 3-4 more weeks they sure wasted no time in springing to life, turning green, even flowering and looking for love (the wildlife that is, not the plants).

Our bee hive also wasted no time and took advantage of what the warm weather brought with it, pollen!  All the blooming flowers and trees were and are rich with pollen that the bees couldn't get enough off.  Honeybees are in great part responsible for pollinating the earth's food supply and for making our plants and trees thrive.  Without them humans could not exist because our grown food supply that also affects the animals we eat would disappear.  It was so nice to see the bees leaving the hive and coming back with little beads of pollen on their back legs.  One of the earliest species of trees to bloom in our area were the Weeping Willows and the bees couldn't hide where they had been because these tiny little beads matched the color of the pale yellow pollen that the willows produce.

As March turned to April temps at night were hitting hard frost levels which I'm sure confused the bees and did damage some of the plants and flowers that popped up pre-maturely during the odd warm spell.  We'll see if the damage is permanent.  During the warm days the bees are out working hard bringing all sorts of pollen and nectar back to the hive to start making more honey.  The pollen now is a richer yellow in color and I suspect that all the Dandelions that are out now are a constant source for them.

I added another "super" box onto the hive which is where the bees make the honey.  These are more shallow than the deeper "brood" boxes that are the base of the hives where more bees are hatched.  The artwork on the second super box from the top is by my brother Todd, www.toddkancar.com

In these photos you will see that the frames did well over winter and the bees have "capped" off the cells where the honey is stored.  I suspect that this year, the hive's second season, will produce some honey for us based on the looks of things.

These bees are hanging out on the inside hive cover.

Summer Blends Into Fall or BEES!

I fell in love with tens of thousands of insects this evening.  It wasn't just the bees though, it was the melding of perfect weather with my fascination with the honeybees that I keep. It created a moment in which time stood still and I was the same as a beekeeper was thousands of years ago, the time between those two moments did not exist and it might as well have been one in the same.  I sat mesmerized for an hour watching and learning.
Today was one of those days, those perfect late summer days that blend into fall.  It was full of warm sunshine yet there was that chill in the air, and the changing light, that made one feel cozy and long for wearing a  sweater.  It was a perfect day for football, GO BILLS!, and apple picking I suppose.  And watching bees.  This is really a perfect time of year.  I suppose that if I had to choose one weather all the time, it would be this.  Not too cold, not too warm.  Autumn's here summer, say your goodbyes.  It's okay if you want hang on for a bit.  We're not quite ready to let go but that sweater that is fall, sure is cozy.
As summer nears its end our honeybees have never been busier.  You see this is the first time, that this young hive (started it in April of this year) has been drunk on Goldenrod.  This time of year, for honeybees in the Northeast, is the equivalent of not just one buffet but a buffet consisting of all your favorite restaurants all in one place (bees having a 3 mile radius territory) serving exactly what you most crave, all the time, for weeks on end.  It's the equivalent of a billionaire having so much money that they don't know wuite what to do with all of it.  In a honeybee hive's territory there is so much goldenrod that they could never use it all. 

Goldenrod is the first flower (see photo above), of such hefty quantity, that is producing nectar since July.  There has been no honey being produced in this area until now.  Clover honey I believe is more of a spring/early summer honey.  Bees need nectar in order to produce honey, in the process of getting the nectar they also collect pollin to help cross pollinate flowers and also to bring back to the hive.  I have said it before and I'll say it again, without bees humans would not exist.  They are that important. 

The bees ingest the nectar and take it back to the hive where they chew on it for a bit and then 'spit' it out into the comb.  The nectar is 75-80% water and 20-25% sugar.  The bees then fan the nectar with their wings within the hive to dry it out until the percentages swap so that the sugar content is then 75-80% of the product and only 20-25% water....this my friend's is honey.  As one approaches the hive it reeks of the sweet smell of nectar turning into honey.  It is intoxicating.
I took advantage of the sublime weather today and sat next to the hive for a good hour, just watching.  I opened it briefly to inspect the production and status of the hive.  They have only just begun to use the top "super" where honey is produced but they are working hard.  While I didn't open the lower "brood" boxes where new bees are made I am quite certain that they are making honey in there as well which will feed them for the winter.  This is for sure where that rich smell is coming from.  All looked good so I decided to watch the activity in and out of the hive and directly on what I like to call the "front porch."

It was mindblowing and mesmerizing to say the least.  I can only describe the amount of bee air traffic in and out of the hive as all airport plane traffic at all airports at given time, combined into one.  I love changing my focus from looking at the hive entrance up close to the air surrounding the front of the hive.  It is then that you really get to appreciate the amount of traffic.  It is never ending as bees come and go arriving with their payload.  It appears to be non stop.  Busy is an understatement.  Hardworking doesn't quite cut it.  Each bee knows exactly what needs to be done with each having a unique job that is a small part of the whole.  I couldn't stop watching it.  I was in a way falling in love with this amazing and tiny creatures.  What sealed the deal is when I saw one bee in particular pick up a dead bumblebee that was probably ten times its size and carried it off the front porch and up a blade of grass to get this intruder out. WOW!  I had to pry myself away because there was other stuff to do.

 PS: As I write this I have stopped quite a few times to put my hand on Sarah's ever growing belly where she too, much like the hard working bees, has been hard at work tenderly growing our son.  We have 4 weeks left until his arrival and boy was he active tonight.  It may have had something to do with the vanilla ice cream, strawberries and yes, ironically or coincidentally, honey on top.  Not our honey yet, but he was diggin' it!

My Buffalo News Interview on BeeKeeping

Last week the Buffalo News' Anne Neville interviewed myself and my beekeeping mentor, Steve Mead, about the fine art and science of bees.  The article turned out really nice!  Great photo by Robert Kirkham of the Buffalo News as well.  Enjoy!  (article below and link to online version here: http://www.buffalonews.com/life/article482260.ece )

Eric Kancar, dressed in his protective beekeeping gear, tends to the hives in East Aurora.

Robert Kirkham / Buffalo News

Updated: July 8, 2011, 2:58 PM

Eric and Sarah Kancar live on a 3.5-acre hobby farm in East Aurora with two horses, eight cats, two dogs, a small flock of chickens and a spoiled potbellied pig adopted from the SPCA. In the spring, their animal census increased by 3,000 to 5,000 when a buzzing, three-pound package of bees arrived from an apiary in Ohio.

The bees, complete with a hardy Russian queen, arrived in early May to replace the colony of bees that had not survived the winter, Kancar's first as a beekeeper.

Although last year's colony filled the hive with heavy deposits of beeswax and honey, the bees died off after their finely honed, intuitive system was disrupted by a series of natural events that included a swarm, when the hive splits in two and half the bees fly off with a queen.

Kancar found the loss of his colony sad and disappointing, but as he narrated events on the blog he writes about his farm (http://czarofthewoodsfarm.blogspot.com) it was clear that he was hooked.

Kancar is not alone. The buzz is growing about these fascinating insects, which not only produce honey and beeswax but serve a vital role in pollinating fruits, berries and flowers. Across the country, hives have popped up everywhere, from suburban backyards to big-city rooftops, including on the South Lawn of the White House.

"Pardon the really bad joke, but beekeeping is a pretty sweet deal," says Philip Barr, who builds and sells Kenyan top bar hives. "I have never tasted honey as good as my own."

"There's a definite increase in the amount of urban beekeeping," says Steve Mead, who has 20 hives on his farm in East Concord and is vice president of the Western New York Honey Producers Association. "A lot of cities and towns have passed ordinances allowing beekeeping, which previously might have been illegal."

Barr, pointing out that in the spring of 2010, New York City lifted its ban on beekeeping, says, "The trend nationally is going toward, 'Yes, please keep bees.'"

Despite the growing interest in beekeeping, all is not well in the apian world. Bee populations have been devastated by the mysterious Colony Collapse Disorder, which has been blamed on everything from a virus or mites to pesticides or climate change. "Bees are the canary in the coal mine," says Barr. Because of the seriousness of the situation -- by some estimates, 30 percent of bees that should survive over a winter have died in recent years -- the Canadian government this week announced a $244,000 grant to the Ontario Beekeepers Association to create a plan to deal with the dramatic decline in honeybee colonies.

But another way of responding to the crisis is to encourage beekeeping, one hive at a time.

"Keeping bees doesn't need to be a huge operation, it can be very small," says Patti Jablonski-Dopkin, general manager of Urban Roots in Buffalo. "Your hive can be just big enough to pollinate the plants you need them to take care of and still help the environment as a whole."

Local beekeepers were encouraged to note that the Buffalo City Charter that regulates agriculture does not contain any mention of beekeeping. But when asked about the legality of beekeeping in the city, mayoral spokesman Mike DeGeorge forwarded a section of the City Charter titled "Infestation and screening," which says, "Grounds, buildings and structures shall be maintained free of insects, vermin and rodent harborage and infestation."

Corporation Counsel Timothy A. Ball says, "The section does prohibit harboring insects (including bees)," and recommended that anyone who wanted to legally keep bees would have to approach the City Council to amend the ordinance.

"There are bees in the city anyhow, living in trees and flying all over," says Mead. "It's not like you can say they can't be there -- they already are there."

Old-fashioned ways

In addition to supporting the environment and enjoying honey and beeswax, new beekeepers can find themselves almost entranced by the industrious action of the thousands of bees who go about their daily routine, collecting pollen, building honeycomb, caring for the queen and the young.

Kancar felt it when he stepped into his first bee yard at Steve and Cindy Mead's Never-Rest Farm.

"Something about it seemed so magical, as though I was stepping back in time, witnessing something that has been going on for millions of years," says Kancar of the action he called "chaotic yet organized." He saw "hundreds of thousands of bees flying into the same small plot of earth, all looking as though there was no rhyme or reason to what they were doing, but I knew that they were highly organized and each had a purpose. ... And the buzz was deafening and mesmerizing."

Mead, who has been keeping bees for six years and now has about 20 hives, started by joining the Western New York Honey Producers group, whose meetings attract everyone from commercial honey-producers to people with one rooftop or backyard hive, as well as some bee fans who don't have any hives.

"Some have been keeping bees for 30 or 40 years, some have 400, 500 or 600 hives, some have an interest but don't have the space or the ability to have bees, so it runs the gamut," he says.

In the group, Mead found what new beekeepers need, even more than the hive tool used to pry apart the parts of a hive or the smoker that calms the bees before working with them.

He found mentors.

Advice from experienced beekeepers is "really critical," Mead says, "because you can only learn so much from books, especially keeping bees. People say, 'The first year I had so many questions!' and I say, 'When you get to the second year, you'll realize that you didn't even know what questions to ask!' No two hives act the same, and no two seasons are the same."

As he was guided when he was starting out, Mead now mentors Kancar, responding with advice and even visits in times of crisis, such as the unexpected swarm that probably caused the death of the first colony at Kancar's Czar of the Woods Farm. "Any time I have ever had a question or an issue, Steve has been there to answer or help me out firsthand," says Kancar. "He is a textbook of knowledge and has seen most anything that can happen with bees."

Kancar enjoys the person-to-person sharing of beekeeping knowledge. "It is such an old trade and it makes sense that knowledge is passed on in such an old-fashioned way, from one person to another," he says.

This winter, the Western New York Honey Producers Association will offer a two-part beginner beekeeper class, with a classroom day in January followed in May by a gathering where students will "be able to get their hands into a hive of bees and see what it's all about," says Mead. To sign up, go to the groups' website, www.wnyhpa.org.

Rain and hives 

 The cold winter and wet, chilly spring stressed many bees, and many colonies died, local beekeepers say. "We had a lot of cold weather late in the year -- we had zero temperatures in March," Mead says. "The weather warmed up and the bees started really rolling and producing their brood, and then it started to rain. It didn't stop for -- well, it hasn't stopped yet, really." Bees do not fly in the rain, and prolonged rainy periods affect the blossoms on which the bees rely, he says.

"Almost nobody's bees made it through this winter; it was a really tough winter," says Barr.

 The Kenyan or Tanzanian bar hives are an adaptation of an ancient hive design. They, along with the tall Langstroth hive, which looks like a filing cabinet, are the two main types of hives used today. The Kenyan style resembles a wooden feed trough. "It's very inexpensive to make if you have some scrap wood, easily managed and great for beginners," Barr says.

Some people hesitate to keep bees because they are afraid of being stung. But when a person is stung, honeybees are seldom to blame, say the beekeepers. "When people say they got stung by a bee, chances are they got stung by a yellow jacket or a bald-faced hornet, not a honeybee at all," says Mead. Barr, who has kept bees for three years, says, "In the management of my hives, I have never been stung. I have been stung doing removals, going into somebody's house and removing a hive, or sometimes I'd be walking around the backyard and step on a bee -- but that was my fault.

"Beekeeping is a very Zen art. You have to be calm and in tune with the bees. Using smoke and taking your time serves to mitigate the risk of being stung."

 Mead says that pop culture references to bees, from the novel and movie "The Secret Life of Bees" to the cartoon "The Bee Movie" have raised awareness of what he calls "the interesting little critters."

"The human race is very dependent on the work that bees do," says Kancar. "I love the idea that my bees are working hard to pollinate and do their part."

"There are so many fascinating things about bees, they are so incredibly intelligent," says Barr. "And if you're talking about trying to eat food produced locally, it doesn't get any more local than your own backyard."

 From noon to 3 p.m. July 23, Philip Barr will speak about natural beekeeping at Urban Roots, 428 Rhode Island St. He will also take questions and sell his handcrafted Kenyan top bar hives. Registration is not needed for this free workshop.

*******************POLLINATOR POINTERS

     To attract pollinators to flowering plants:

•      Plant a variety of flowers that bloom different times of the year. Honeybees, bumblebees and many vertebrate pollinators are around throughout the growing season and into winter.
•      Plant flowers in clumps. Clumping flowers increases the intensity of the fragrance and a pollinator's ability to locate it.
•      Choose a variety of flower colors to attract a wide variety of pollinators; for example, butterflies like red, orange and yellow, while hummingbirds prefer purple, red and fuchsia.
•      Select as many native and nonhybrid plants as possible; many hybrid flowers have their pollen, nectar and fragrance bred out of them. Check the North American Pollinator Protection Campaign and the Pollinator Partnership at www.pollinator.org/guides and enter your ZIP code for an area-specific guide.
•      Flower shapes matter, too. Butterflies and honeybees like to land before feeding and usually prefer flat, open flowers. Pollinators with long beaks and tongues, such as hummingbirds, like tubular flowers.
•      Provide or build nesting structures for pollinators. Bird and bat houses, shrubbery, compost and piles of fallen branches and brush provide harborage for many pollinators.
•      Never use pesticides or herbicides around a pollinator garden. Even organic pesticides can be potentially harmful.

BE A BEEKEEPER

•     Beginning beekeeping: www.beginningbeekeeping.com
•     American Beekeeping Federation at www.abfnet.org/
•     Best beekeeping reading material includes Bee Culture and American Bee Journal, which cover practical beekeeping and bee research.

Daily Press, Newport News, Va.

aneville@buffnews.com