Hammering and Glueing

Tonight, we were presented with boxes of wooden frames, brood supers and honey supers. All in a gazillion pieces. Time to put them together! After a brief introduction, we set upon the task of building a frame or a hive super. Other than learning how to do it, it was the first chance we really had to chat to our fellow students other than the customary niceties when the class started. You had a chance to ask people why they were taking the class.

For the most part, people just thought it would be cool. Some work for non profits that promote urban gardening and wanted to have another hive nearby. Others did it because their grandfather kept bees in Germany. There's a mother and young son team that seem to be having the best time. So, we sat and glued, hammered and chatted.

"Where are you going to put your hive?", nodding approvingly as people would talk about finding a 'good spot' in the garden. "Does it face the morning sun?", I asked with a level of authority that made me chuckle. What do I know! Seemed like an important thing to me and for some reason I felt compelled to share that.

Hovering between tables, I zipped from one conversation to the other. We heard from Tony who is a club member who recounted his first years bee keeping. It's his 3rd year now. First year was a breeze he thought. The second year, he approached the hive on a nice afternoon late summer with the thought of quickly checking on it. Without any gear on, he lifted the top and instantly realized his mistake. The bees were agitated. Out they came and stung him 20 times. "How many times?" a wide eyed woman asked. "6 times on this arm, and the the rest on this part of my body...." He went on to recount that it was the last time he went without gear and with some modesty said that it wasn't that bad. WASNT THAT BAD!! Geez. That quietened a few of us down, and we redoubled our efforts to put the hive pieces together while we all made pledges to wear our gear, even if we were peeking in.

The loss of bees and the recent media attention regarding the recent hive collapses floated around all the tables. "Did you see the NYT article?", "Oh the Providence Journal also had an article"...Theories abounded. Club members reassured us that the losses were mostly contained to commercial bee hives. "They work them pretty hard you know. Move them from place to place, and it stresses the bees...", one of them offered. Another theorized that it had to do with resistance to old diseases. "They're all coming back you know" he offered. Another cited pesticides and it made me think of the landmark case against BASF concerning the billions of bees killed in France back in 2004. Nobody had a good explanation but it was clear everyone was concerned.

And more than one, felt that their choice to take the course and to try to keep bees, could play a small part in the future of bees. I certainly think so.

Honeybees Vanish, Leaving Keepers in Peril

By ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO Published: February 27, 2007
Bees have been disappearing at an alarming rate in 24 states, threatening the production of numerous crops. [more]

NYT Weighs In

Keeping Bees Among Us
By VERLYN KLINKENBORG
Published: February 22, 2007
Few things are more depressing than opening the lid on a hive and finding that the colony inside has died. [more]

Massive Bee Die Off

This is one of the reasons I am trying to raise bees: They are dying..in huge numbers and we aren't really sure why. Can I do a little part in keeping a hive around to help out, yes, I think so. This latest news out of University of Penn. is alarming:

"An alarming die-off of honey bees has beekeepers fighting for commercial survival and crop growers wondering whether bees will be available to pollinate their crops this spring and summer.

Researchers are scrambling to find answers to what's causing an affliction recently named Colony Collapse Disorder, which has decimated commercial beekeeping operations in Pennsylvania and across the country." more...