Modern Homesteader

It was a productive weekend, not only for myself, but for my honey bees as well. While I currently have two broody chickens and a broody duck on my hands; my bees are by far the most complex creatures I have encountered. It’s been three long months since tragedy struck on this little homestead. I have waited and waited for the weather to warm up in order to get into the hive that was struck down by a fallen tree. It’s always a guessing game with a Montana spring. In the morning it will be snowing, by afternoon the sun will be shining and come evening, pouring rain. Not ideal conditions to rescue bees. However, this last weekend served as ideal conditions to cut away at the tree trunk and dive into the hive to assess the damage.

While honey bees are not hostile creatures, I for one never take advantage of their docile demeanor and the relationship I have with them. To me, bees are wild in nature and that deserves respect. With that being said, I believe a bee suit is one of the most indispensable tools a beekeeper can possess.

Much to my surprise, even with a major disruption to their home, the bees showed no sign of aggression. Even with a loud saw jostling their home, tree shavings flying everywhere, me standing right in front of the entrance to the hive, they just went about their business. There they were making their strategically laid out landings and highly calculated takeoffs. It was just bees, simply being bees.

The damage to the hive bodies was not as extensive as I had originally thought. Much of the upper boxes and frames did need to be replaced, but the bottom portion of the hive weathered through and somehow stayed fully intact. This gave me hope that the queen would still be alive. I wouldn’t know until I was able to pull out each frame for inspection.

While the loss in numbers was significant, I was happy to see newly emerged worker bees scattered throughout every frame I looked at. Queen spotting is a trait I have yet to master. So instead of spending time searching for a queen, I look for signs that a queen is present. I look for the brood pattern, where she has been laying eggs. There in the lower levels of the hive, I found them. Freshly hatched larvae nestled away in their perfectly shaped hexagonal cells. Since the worker bees are female and are in possession of ovaries, they have the ability to lay eggs. However, the queen is the only one capable of laying fertilized eggs. When a colony is “queenless” for an extended period of time, worker bees will naturally start laying. A distinct disruption will be seen in the brood pattern. Luckily, I did not see this. That tells me the queen is alive and well.

While it may seem like disorganized chaos to the human eye, the pattern in which the brood is created is instinctively collaborative. The colony as a whole, creates order and structure to ensure long-term survival. I admire the beauty in the meticulous pattern of each frame. There’s still so much we don’t know about bees, which is one of the reasons beekeeping is so fascinating to me.

I was worried about moving the entrance of the hive, bees have a very calculated way of finding the entrance to their hive after they’ve been out foraging. Luckily, because the queen made it through the crash, the smell of the queen’s pheromones led the way back home.

Miriah Kardelis is a modern homesteader who is always looking for new ideas. Reach her at [email protected].