Hive Update: Movin' On Up

Comment by AnnelidaFilms on June 3, 2013 at 2:03am

This update is a bit late, so I'll catch up with another one very very soon.  (I can't wait till next year's start-your-own-beehive challenge!)

Comment by Marie on June 4, 2013 at 4:52pm

Really cool stuff! There used to lots of bee hives (boxes? ;-) around when I was growing up. Now I can only think of one grower and they have cut down to about 1/3 what they used to have 20 years ago. *sigh* You are doing a really good thing.

Comment by AnnelidaFilms on June 5, 2013 at 12:22am

Thank you!  We plan to split this hive to two hives early next year, if we can.  And we may set up several more hives on my business partner's farm (my bee mentors).  People need bees!!!

Comment by SydTheSkeptic on June 12, 2013 at 12:44pm

That is COOL, especially since the bee population is in danger.   You rock!

Comment by NatureJunkie on June 13, 2013 at 12:38am

So you can keep this population reproducing (and even growing) indefinitely? Also, I don't totally understand how the smoke subdues them. If they sense it as a form of danger, like the first whiff of a wildfire, why don't they evacuate immediately?

This is a very cool series. I'm really digging watching it progress.

Comment by AnnelidaFilms on June 13, 2013 at 1:56am

@Syd - (hint: bee hive as a class project)

@NJ - The Queen controls the size of the hive.  She lays nearly 1,500 eggs a day from Spring through Summer, and because of the lifespan of a bee (6-8 weeks), basic math dictates a hive would level off at about 60,000.  The Queen (she can live for 5 years!) slows down her egg-laying in the Fall so that by Winter the hive population is much smaller, and they hunker down with stored honey and pollen and keep themselves warm by vibrating their wings.  Smoke is a sign of danger to the bees, so they drop what they're doing and start eating honey in preparation of possible evacuation.  You should use just a little smoke so they don't actually take off.  :)

@Syd - (see, it's a great class project!)

Comment by NatureJunkie on June 14, 2013 at 3:06pm

I caught your explanation of the smoke in the video, but what I don't understand is why eating honey is preparation for evacuation. I mean, if my neighborhood was on fire, I wouldn't be heading to the kitchen to fix myself a snack!

Comment by AnnelidaFilms on June 14, 2013 at 5:12pm

That's just the way honey bees are, I guess.  Next to their Queen, their food stores are the most important thing to them.  If their house burns to the ground, they may need a few days to re-home - and only then would their food production resume.  So they prioritize a full belly of good home-made cookin' for the road.  That's why swarms are relatively docile; the little critters are stuffed to the gills and not in any mood to pick fights.

Comment by NatureJunkie on June 15, 2013 at 3:35am

Honey bees. My kind of people.

Comment by AnnelidaFilms on July 2, 2013 at 8:29pm

I hear ya, Sister!

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