Honey Bee Adventure

Kids of all ages wanted to get a peek at the Queen!

I would like to introduce you to the Science Center Honey Bees!  Because of the role a honey bee plays in producing the food we eat, berries, peaches, almonds, beans, peppers, tomatoes….the list goes on and on, I feel lucky to be at the forefront of educating the kids, parents, teachers, grandparents and care givers that visit the Greensboro Science Center.  We had a few reservations about placing the hives out in the open where it’s good for the bees.  We decided that signage warning visitors “Active Bee Hive – Do NOT Approach” should do the trick of protecting the bees and the humans.

This was an adventure for me as I’d never “ordered” bees to be installed into hives.  I did my homework, read books and watched a video to be as prepared as possible.  In the past I’ve always “recovered” bees from water meter boxes, under sheds, etc. or removed swarms to bring to the apiary.  Turns out ordering and placing bees in a hive is a much simpler process.  When I arrived at Triad Bee Supply to pick up my bees this is what I saw – a tent with “Bee Buses” stacked high, all waiting for their keepers to carry them to their new homes.

Bee Buses

After checking to make sure my queens were alive and well, I loaded them into my car.  Not to worry there were no loose bees to buzz about in my enclosed vehicle.

Right about now I was feeling exhilarated and ready to meet my new bees.  I drove straight to the science center to unload and place them in their homes.  The hives were already set up in the Bird, Butterfly & Bee Zone – near the farm animals and petting zoo.  The first two steps were to remove the queen cage and then remove the cork plug on the candy end of the box – In the photo below you can see one end has a large white blob – that is bee candy.  By removing the cork on the outside of that end, it allows the bees in the hive to eat through the sugary candy and the bees attending the queen to nibble from the inside until the candy is gone and the queen can walk out into a hive.  This allows everyone not attending the queen to pick up the scent of her pheromones and welcome her when she takes her place inside the colonies hive.

Queen Cage

Once I removed the queen cage visitors were beginning to gather and I was able to share her with quite a few interested kids and adults alike.  It’s not often anyone other than the beekeeper sees the queen since beekeepers are the only ones looking inside a hive.  It made me smile to see how interested everyone was.  The bee best visible in the picture beneath is an attendant.  To the left of her is a long brown body – that is the queen.

A Queen Bee and her attendants

Not wanting to prolong the process I placed the queen carrier onto the frames in the hive and then it was time to introduce all the other ladies to their new home.

Placing the queen cage inside the hive

Doing this was simply a matter removing a few frames to make room and next, pouring them into the hive.  Below you can see I’ve replaced all but 2 frames and the bees are already beginning to rally around their queen in her little cage.  Other bees are placing themselves along the top of a frame and the outside  – ready to go to work.  The tan paper looking slab above the queen is a pollen patty.  Food for the girls – lots of protein in a pollen patty. This will supplement them until they find outside pollen sources.

I placed the bee bus outside the hive for the stragglers to make their way in on their own time.  By the time I left that day everyone had found their way into the hive to take her place in the community.  Do you ever think about the fact that bees live in a community?  They all have a job and a purpose and the bees all work together for the benefit of the entire hive.  They take on different jobs, guard bees- protect their hive from predators, nurse bees- feed the brood, forager bees- leave the hive and return with water, pollen and nectar, scout bees- take flights to locate said, water, pollen and nectar and return doing a little dance to indicate to the others where to find these resources.  Queen attendants- well they pamper the queen!  Some bees excrete wax to make the comb, others remove nectar and pollen from the foragers and place it in the comb.  Bees are meticulous and a few bees are assigned to keep the hive clean.  Much like a family – like your family perhaps.

The last step is to place the inner cover followed by the outer lid and leave the bees to their own devices.  After I placed the inner cover you can see below how they want to investigate all their territory – they clamber out of the hive and before I shut the hive completely I gently coax them back inside – taking great care not to squish anyone!

Curious bees

The entire process was repeated on the next hive.  I can’t go back to open the hives and check on the queen for a week.  Today, the day I am writing and posting this story, was the day, but alas it is cold and rainy.  I have no choice but to postpone the next step until tomorrow, when the weather is predicted to be sunny with temps in the 70’s.  Much better bee weather.  I’ve visited several times and observed plenty of activity around both hives.  They are also devouring the sugar syrup, you see in the mason jars on the fronts of the hives, and I’ve refilled multiple times in a week.  On one visit we had a visitor in the apiary, a curious and gorgeous peacock.

I am thrilled with this new adventure and pleased that everyone at the science center is excited about the installation of the bees and ready to spread the word.  Bees are vital to our food sources, and we all like food – if you don’t, I’d love to hear from you- because I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t love biting into a sweet summer peach, or crunching on roasted almonds, or eating a juicy ‘mater sandwich.  Without the conservation of honey bees and other pollinators we are only failing ourselves.

Do your part!  Plant flowers, trees, fruit orchards, and herbs that are pollinator friendly.  Take caution when purchasing plants to be sure they are free of harmful pesticides and spread the word.  You’ve nothing to loose!  Click here to get ideas of what to plant.  Go here for a link to an article about makes good choices when purchasing your garden plants and flowers.  Share a comment and tell me how you are fulfilling the needs for our sweet pollinators.  What are you growing?  Where have you found the best plants for your own backyard garden, patio, yard or balcony?  Inquiring minds want to know!