Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Hiswife,Anita,wasalwaysathisside,helpingtopackupordersforcustomers.An-
ita was a worker bee who also was a queen. Like Eddie, she was a lifelong beekeeper,
and together they were the founders of the Back Yard Beekeepers Association. Once,
when I had stopped by to purchase some honeycomb for candles, she showed me how
to roll it up to make dinner candles.
As I waited my turn, I noticed all the honey and bee-pollen jars that were neatly dis-
playedalongthesideshelves.Eddie'shoneywasfamousaroundtheseparts,andhehad
been producing honey for what seemed like forever. Along with literature and educa-
tional posters was his popular topic about beekeeping, appropriately titled
The Queen
and I
.
As the last beekeeper left, Eddie turned to me and asked, “What can I do for you,
doll?” This was his old-fashioned way of speaking to young ladies. Before I could an-
swer, he said, “I know, I know, Mr. B sent you for a queen.” Feeling a bit like Dorothy
before the Wizard of Oz, and attempting to hold my own, I again told him how there
were no eggs present in my hive and I did not see the queen.
Eddie offered me one of his fine young queens for a small price. She was packaged
inthe familiar wooden queen cage Iremembered frommyfirst package ofbees. He ex-
plained that the procedure for introducing her to the hive was also the same: place the
cage between two frames and let the workers and attendants eat away the candy cork
to free the queen. If all went well, her new subjects would accept her, she would mate
with some lazy drones, and the colony would be saved from a slow death. I listened di-
ligently, nodding in agreement with every word.
Itwasafterfiveo'clockwhenIarrivedbackhomewithmynewqueen.Ihadtowork
quicklyifIwantedtointroducemynewqueentothecolonybeforedark.SoIsuitedup,
lit my smoker, and opened up the hive. I removed one frame from the top deep to make
space to hang the queen cage, sugarcork side up, closed everything up, and promised
myself it would be fine. One week later I opened up the hive to find the queen was out
of her cage and had already begun laying eggs. My hive was queen right again.
T
HE
O
VERWINTERING
B
EEKEEPER
In the course of the cold winter months, while the bees are clustering inside the hive,
a beekeeper's tasks are limited. If there are more than a few consecutive warm days,
you may want to feed your bees some sugar fondant or even a pollen patty. Both can be
made at home andplaced onthe topbarsofthe upperdeep onawarm day.Donotopen
your hive when the temperature is below 55°F, or you risk chilling the bees.
Generallyspeaking,winterisagoodtimetobuildsomenewframeswithsomefresh
foundation.Thesecanbeaddedtothehiveinthewarmerdaysofspringtoreplacedam-
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