Bees have always fascinated me. My father was a passionate gardener and I grew up with 11 siblings tending our family garden and our 32 apple, pear and cherry trees. There were bees everywhere — all kinds of bees. We tolerated the occasional bee stings because we knew that the bees were vital to the health of our garden and were directly responsible for the abundant fruit we harvested from our home orchard.
Now fast-forward 30 years: While family and friends were hanging out in our cabin on a cold Wisconsin evening, our kids brought up the impact of our carbon footprint. We have five children, ranging from 16 to 25 years old. What could we do as a family to become more environmentally conscious and live more sustainable lifestyles? Many ideas were discussed, including honeybees.
I was intrigued, so in the spring of 2012 I took a beekeeping class through the Dane County (Wisconsin) Beekeepers Association. It began in early April and was taught by two experienced beekeepers, who became our mentors. The class met on four Saturday afternoons and we learned about bees and assembled our beehives. On April 21 — Earth Day weekend — we received our “package bees.” These screened crates contained about 10,000 honeybees and a mated queen. I put my two crates (including a few bees clinging to the outside of the screening) into the car and — with my inquisitive husband — drove directly to our cabin to introduce the bees to their new home.
Our cabin is an old A-frame structure surrounded by 100 acres of prairie and forest with a creek going through it. The property abuts a 2,000-acre state recreation area. We had set up the new beehives near our garden and fruit trees. There would be plenty of nectar, pollen and water — all three important for our new bees. My heart was pounding as I opened the crate of bees and reached in for the queen cage, just as I was taught in class. My husband watched while I set the queen cage between two frames in the hive, and then placed the jars of sugar syrup inside.
During the beekeeping class, we were advised to keep a journal so we could observe what was happening each week and learn more about our bees. I began looking forward to visiting them each week. I read books, kept notes, went to the Madison Bee Club monthly meetings and tried to keep up with the Dane County Beekeepers Association madbees.org group. It was all so energizing and exciting. My friends asked me about the bees as if they were my new children and I always had a story to tell. I learned so much so fast.
In mid-July we went out of town on vacation, so the bees were left alone for two weeks. I started to worry that the bees might swarm — there were many entries on the MadBees forum about this. When we came back to the cabin after our vacation, the bees swarmed, almost in front of us! It was amazing! Half the bees from one hive flew into a small apple tree and hung on a branch.
Of course, we were not prepared with a new hive for the swarm. We called some neighbors down the road who had kept bees many years ago and had told us a swarm is super-fun to deal with. We knew we needed help and they came right away. We quickly put together a makeshift new hive and began making a plan for capturing the swarm.
Now we had three hives and the bees were very busy making honey. Our summer was hot and dry but they had the spring-fed creek and plenty of flowers in the fields around the property. I was stung a few times but learned to stay calm and try to be one with the bees. Friends and family came to see the bees and learn about them. We took a frame of honey home, learned how to strain it, and enjoyed the honey immensely. After harvesting a few more frames of honey during the summer, we noticed that the honey varied in color, depending on the types of flowers in bloom.
In our beekeeping class, I had learned about varroa mites and bee viruses, but I believed that our honeybees would survive because they were strong and we were in a naturally pesticide-free area. And, I wanted to avoid any non-natural agents.
I realized later that I was being a bit naive. It turns out that one of our hives — the one that didn’t swarm — had a bad mite infestation that had weakened it so much that it wasn’t likely to make it through the winter. We harvested some of the honey and hoped for the best, but the bees died some time before Christmas. Sadly, the other hives also died later that winter.
Undaunted and with lessons learned, we made the leap this spring and expanded our backyard apiary to five hives. Last year, we adopted a new term to describe people — whether or not they were “honey worthy;” that is, were they good enough friends to get our precious honey as a gift? We are hoping to have more honey this summer so we can be more generous our honey gifting!
Editor’s note: If you really want to go all-natural, consult with one or more beekeepers who have been doing it organically with success for years. It’s a gamble, and can be a costly and unfortunate way to start out for beginners. There are some less-toxic options now, too, that, though not “organic,” are better than not treating and losing hives.
It was so interesting to read someone’s experience as I would love to raise bees. I live about 11 miles from a large city and don’t think bees would find enough nectar and pollen, even though I have a large flower and vegetable garden. I still found it fascinating reading – keep us up to date on how it’s going!
I used to live in New Castle, Pa. and lived on the main street of town ; 6 blocks from the center. I kept bees without any problems . As I would get 8 ot 10 hives from swarms & bee removals ; I would move them to my Apiary in the country . Back then there were NO mites . NOW I live on a large farm near Kittanning / Templeton,Pa. We have mite problems , Bear problems ; and corn fields & neighbors using neonicotinoids & other Bee ( & Human ) Killing Poisons .My wife & I do Show & tells with elementary school kids & ask “PLEASE DON’T SPRAY ! ” Many Beeks live in cities like New York , Pittsburg , etc.and do Quite well on roof tops & vacant lots .. Suburbia is great if you can get the same words to neighbors to not spray ; or at Least -to Read the Directions ..Many trees & bushes also supply the bees with food & nectar ;and d
during droughts they have deep roots .
Great article. You make me want to learn more about swarming and hives and the different colors of honey. It wouldn’t really be possible to raise bees where we live, so thanks for letting us live vicariously through your experience. Great stuff.
Way to go jean! Glad to know I am a only friend
What fun it was to arrive unexpectedly the day the bees were swarming–would otherwise never have experienced such an event! Proud of you Jeanne, for taking on such an admirable project! And by the way, I’m so glad my family was deemed “honey worthy!” The honey was mighty delicious to my family…I can only imagine how tasty it is to your bee-keeping family!
Hello Jeanne,
I am also a newbie, having started three years ago. I still consider myself very new at this, having not made it through a winter yet without losses. I reside in Illinois, and am originally from south of Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
I go from one to three hives depending on the losses. This spring I will try something new–re-queening. I have a strong hive that survived the winter, with two close by that did not. A fellow beekeeper raises queens, and I am going to “split ” the one good hive into three after much more research. I live right in the middle of corn country with spraying happening all the time, and it is quite a challenge. I have a young orchard of twenty plus trees, and know that the bees will be very beneficial, if I can just keep them alive. More later.
This “honey worthy” fan of the Grists has a tear in her eye and a smile on her face reading your Gardener’s Journal – and the honey is simply delicious – it has the secret ingredient of Grist family love – so no one can ever duplicate that! Way to go, Mama Grist! Messing with backyard bees is not for the faint of heart!
You would think the siblings would be “Honey worthy”, but with so many, apparently not. We are very proud of Jeanne and her family and all the contributions they are making to a better, healthier planet. It will be interesting to get to the “100 Acres Woods” this summer to see your project.
Please, please ask all of your neighbors (not just the next-door ones) if they get anaphylatic shock from bee stings. Twice I’ve gone into convulsions and nearly died from a sting, both from honeybees. And no, I wasn’t bothering them. I’m sure both times I inadvertently got between them and wherever their hives were, so it’s no one’s fault. The first time, which took less than 30 minutes to produce convulsions, there was a doctor nearby and he had epinephrine. The second time I had epinephrine with me. I carry an epipen now, but they’re pretty useless against a multiple sting. If you have a hive, make sure you have epipens in stock, too, because you won’t know if you or others have an allergy until that first sting.
What is a swarm? Why do they do it? I’m a city girl. 🙂
You’ll find a good explanation of a swarm in this post: http://blog.gardeners.com/2009/06/invitation-to-a-swarm/
-David Grist, Gardener’s Supply
Wow that is a good looking swarm. I have really looked into beekeeping but I live in a city and I worry about the neighbors getting stung. If I lived in the country, I would have already done this!
I’ve always been fascinated with beekeeping and alarmed by the threat to the bees. Every spring I rejoice at the sight of spring’s first bee and fall in love with the bumbling bumble. I also live with neighbors far too close to even think of raising honey bees. That said, I don’t like honey anyway… it’s too sweet and puts my teeth on edge… so when I heard about our non-stinging, non-honey producing native bee… the Osmium lignaria… I decided to look into them. That was 10 years ago and I’m still raising them. Anyone who lives where space is limited and honey bees would be impractical, should think about looking into the Orchard Mason bee. Information on the Osmium lignaria/Orchard Mason bee can be found at… http://www.knoxcellars.com/about_orchard_mason.php