Movie: The Vanishing of the Bees

Honeybees have been mysteriously disappearing across the planet, literally vanishing from their hives.

Known as Colony Collapse Disorder, this phenomenon has brought beekeepers to crisis in an industry responsible for producing apples, broccoli, watermelon, onions, cherries and a hundred other fruits and vegetables. Commercial honeybee operations pollinate crops that make up one out of every three bites of food on our tables.

Vanishing of the Bees follows commercial beekeepers David Hackenberg and Dave Mendes as they strive to keep their bees healthy and fulfill pollination contracts across the U.S. The film explores the struggles they face as the two friends plead their case on Capital Hill and travel across the Pacific Ocean in the quest to protect their honeybees.

Filming across the US, in Europe, Australia and Asia, this documentary examines the alarming disappearance of honeybees and the greater meaning it holds about the relationship between mankind and mother earth. As scientists puzzle over the cause, organic beekeepers indicate alternative reasons for this tragic loss. Conflicting options abound and after years of research, a definitive answer has not been found to this harrowing mystery.

Look for a screening near you!

How You Can Take Action Today to Protect the Honeybee

Participate in Bee Friendly Gardening

Brighten up your garden with some bee-friendly flower seeds – Plant wildflower seeds in your garden, patio pots or window boxes to provide essential nutrition for bees.

 Growing your own vegetables and fruits helps the bees, the environment, and puts healthy food on your table. Nothing beats the taste of a home grown tomato, carrot or apple!  

 

Planting a fruit tree suited to your climate can yield delicious apples, pears, oranges and other fruits year after year and best of all they’re free!

 

Community gardens provide a great way for folks to have a patch of their own and meet some really cool people in the process. 

 

Become A Backyard Beekeeper 

It’s very easy to have a hive in your backyard garden. There is a minimum amount of equipment, which you can buy either new or second hand. 

The best way of finding out is to contact your local beekeepers association who will be very helpful and will teach you how to look after bees.  

The time commitment is about one hour ever two weeks, from mid-April to September, and then almost nothing in the rest of the months. One hive should yield you  enough honey for both you and your neighbors. 

So, if you’re really interested in helping bees, why not think about becoming an amateur beekeeper?

 

Buy Organic Fruits and Vegetables

By far the most powerful way we can help the honeybee is by voting with our forks. The decisions we make about what to eat and what not to eat can shape modern agriculture and bring us back into harmony with the natural systems of life. Buying organic fruits and vegetables brings health and vitality to the dinner tables.

To find great prices on organic food try your local farmers market. Community Supported Agriculture also offers the convenience of home delivered seasonal fresh produce. These locally grown foods are the freshest available and also reduce the carbon footprint.

 

Use Only Natural Pesticides in Your Home and Garden

Natural means to keep unwanted insects out of the home and garden often work better than conventional pesticides. These holistic methods of repelling bugs can also be less expensive and more effective. Working to better the health of the bees is also bettering our health and that of world around us.

 

“To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee.."

 --Emily Dickinson          

A Visit to the Garden Center

The NEOBA Beekeeping Club set up a booth at the Tulsa Garden Center's spring plant sale this weekend and I stopped by to take a look.  Several members of the club were on hand to provide information about local club activities and to answer questions on the different aspects of beekeeping.

Everyone seemed to be especially interested in viewing the observation hive.  It consists of two frames that have been removed from a local hive and placed inside an enclosed box so that everyone can watch the bees as they work and the bees are not able to get out. 

The lower frame in this picture is a frame of "brood" or baby bees being raising inside the different cells and the upper frame consists of honey that has been stored for the feeding of the hive.  The little bees inside the hive just kept working the whole time without little concern about those of us watching.....you know the old saying, "Busy as a bee".

 

If you are interesting in keeping bees, I highly recommend joining a local beekeeping club in your area.  It is a great way to meet some really nice people who are more than happy to share their passion and knowledge about keeping bees.   Many clubs have regular monthly meetings and often hold beekeeping classes to help newbie beekeepers learn the ins and outs of starting their own bee hives.

Bless the flowers and the weeds, my birds and bees...

Ordering the Bees

Recently I placed an order for two packages of bees, which will arrive around the first week of April.  A "package" of bees includes three pounds of bees, which equates to about 10 to 15 thousand bees, and a mated queen.  The bees will arrive in packing crates and will be transferred into permanent hives in my backyard.

 I chose to order them from a company called Bee Weaver Apiaries out of Austin, TX.  They produce chemical free colonies they call the BeeWeaver Breed and are recommended as being ideal for new beekeepers as they are hardy and are said to be resistant to varroa mites. 

Since I am completely clueless as to which type of bee is best, I am going with the recommendation of a local beekeeper and will form my own opinions as to preference of bee type when I have a little more experience...

“The keeping of bees is like the direction of sunbeams.”

 --Henry David Thoreau

 

Visiting A Beeyard

Recently I was invited to work in the bee yard of a fellow club member and I jumped at the chance.  Janice, another new beekeeper, and I had spoken with Stan at a recent club meeting and he invited us to his bee yard in Wagoner.  We decided to meet at the bee yard around 2:00 in the afternoon.  The sky was overcast, the temperature was around 60 degrees and there was virtually no wind. 

Once we arrived, Stan said the purpose for today's visit was to check his hives to see how they had survived over the winter months and to ascertain whether they needed supplemental feeding.  Janice and I were anxious to get a chance to see the bees up close as we are both making preparations to set up our own hives in a few weeks.  We felt that it was important for us to become more comfortable around the hives so that we wouldn't be so nervous when our own bees arrived.  Stan currently has six hives at his property in Wagoner and warned us that a few of the hives might be a little "grumpy".  

With that said, we were ready to head to the bee yard...

First, we needed to put on the appropriate clothing so that the bees won't have a chance to sting us.  We all three wore hats, veils and gloves...

Next, in order to calm the bees while opening the hives, smoke is used by way of a hand held bellows smoker.  Stan lights the smoker with the use of small stove pellets and a little bit of dried grass...

Janice was the designated smoker, and did a great job of keeping the bees calm.  Smoke is pumped at the entrance to the hive so that it may permeate upward and calm the bees inside while the hive is opened from the top...

 

Janice and I were anxious and ready to see the inside of the hive as Stan removed the telescoping cover and pried open the inner cover...

Standing next to the hive, you could hear the bees buzzing as we peered down into the frames.  It was an amazing sound while at the same time a little unnerving.  We were looking to see what type of food sources were available to the bees (i.e. honey and/or pollen) and also to see where the bee cluster was located...

A few frames were pulled out to see what type of honey store was available to the bees as well...

Beautifully golden capped honey was found in this hive and we knew that they would have plenty to eat till the weather warmed completely and spring foraging would begin...

Peering down into the hive, you could see the worker bees on the sides of the frames.  This time of year, the day time temperatures can have quite a range and the bees prefer to fly out only on warmer days.  Most of the rest of the time when it is cold, they are clustered in a ball shape within the hive to keep themselves warm.  That is why it is important for them to have plenty of food available so that they do not starve over the winter  months.  Come spring, when the daytime temperatures warm, the bees will begin flying out of the hive to forage for pollen and nectar to raise their brood...

Yum...capped honey...just what the bees (and beekeepers) love most...

Janice looks like she is having a good time...you can see the smile on her face.  Can you also see the golden colors inside some of the cells in the upper left corner?  That is pollen that the bees have stored so that they can feed it to the brood...

One of the other hives did not have extra honey stores and was in need of supplemental food.  A bucket of sugar syrup was placed on top of the frames, over the bee cluster, so that they would have something to keep them happy till the weather warms...

Now that we had checked all the hives and given extra food to those that were in need of it, it was now time to tidy up the bee yard before we go home...

As a new beekeeper, there is nothing more helpful than to visit a bee yard and gain hands on knowledge from other beekeepers.  Janice and I were both very appreciative to Stan for letting us come and help him 'work his bees'. 

Stan feels that he has three very strong hives and has plans to come back in a few weeks after the weather has warmed and split them into multiple hives.  Janice and I both make plans to come back and help Stan with that process and spend more time with the bees...

This has been a very good day for me and hopefully for the bees as well.  I have gotten an introduction into the life of a beekeeper and look forward to my own experience. 

My bees will be arriving by shipment the first week in April and I am looking forward to sharing that experience with you as well.  I have been working on getting my hives ready and will post more pictures when I have them completed. 

Stay tuned...

“When you go in search of honey you must expect to be stung by bees.” 

--Joseph Joubert

Keep Bees...Are You Kidding?

Why you ask would someone want to become a beekeeper.

My fascination with keeping bees began quite accidentally.  About two years ago, my best friend and her husband decided to keep bees and they setup two hives on their rural property.

Opening the hive for inspection.

 As the year progressed, she would tell me what was happening in the hives and that they were attending a monthly meeting for NEOBA beekeepers in the area.  I asked if I could go with her the next month, and I did.  I found the individuals in the group to be very passionate about beekeeping and willing to impart their knowledge and love of bees to anyone who was interested.  

Reviewing a frame of bees and looking for the queen.

I continued to attend the meetings for the remainder of the year and signed up for a Beginning Beekeeping class that fall.  My friend and her husband also invited me to come "work the bees" one weekend and I was hooked!  While I am usually pretty wary of wasps and bees, I found the hives to be very fascinating and wanted to learn more.

Cutting the swarm from the tree.

 At one point last spring, my friends found one of their hives had swarmed and began the process of recovering them.  They presented a program at one of the following monthly meetings and it was absolutely amazing to me.  From their pictures you could see all of the bees marching back into the new hive, which was really cool.

All the bees marching into the new hive.

With warm weather just around the corner and spring being the best time to setup a new hive, I have decided to setup my own bee hives and will be blogging about that process in the days to come.   I will admit it seems a little scary having thousands of bees taking up residence in my backyard, but I know it will be fascinating to watch them work and to enjoy the rewards of their efforts.......lots of HONEY!!  I hope it will be a fun and rewarding experience and look forward to letting you in on the process.  

Stay tuned...