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Ask the Expert: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bees
You’re afraid of this enterprising little lady? Seriously?
I should start this piece with a disclaimer: As far as beekeeping goes, I am a relative expert. This is only my second year of the hobby, which makes me a solid novice. However, beekeeping is an all-or-nothing commitment in that you either work with thousands of bees, or you don’t work with any. Most people fall into the latter category, so I can comfortably venture that — even as a novice — I’ve had more exposure to bees than most non-beekeepers will have in their lifetimes. On the other hand, I know that there is at least one other beekeeper on Ricochet, and she’s been at it about ten times as long as I. So, rather than focus on truly expert points, I will focus on points that a non-beekeper might find useful, specifically ones that show that honeybees, unlike wasps or hornets, aren’t all that scary.
Q: Aren’t honeybees aggressive like wasps or hornets?
A: Different strains have different levels of aggression, but on the whole, no. One of the most popular strains of honeybee is the Ligurian (or Italian), which is the strain of bees that the ancient Romans kept. It’s been domesticated for thousands of years and it shows.
Hi! I’m a Yellow Jacket. I’m a jerk.
Q: What does a honeybee look like, as opposed to a yellow jacket (wasp)?
A: Honeybees are smaller, browner, and are colored less brightly. Honeybees are also fuzzy; yellow jackets have some, but not a lot, of fuzz.
Q: If honeybees are not aggressive, why did one sting me?
A: If a honeybee stings, it is because it thinks that its life or its hive is threatened. Most people never come near a beehive, so the bee probably thought that its life was threatened. If a bee lands on you, don’t swat. Instead just watch, it will fly away on its own.
I have been stung only twice in two years and both times were my fault. The first time, there was a bee on the webbing of my thumb. I did not see it, closed my thumb, and squeezed the bee. The bee defended itself. The second time, I was inspecting the hive and one of the boxes fell to the ground. The bees thought, correctly, that their hive was threatened. So don’t threaten them, remain calm, and they most likely won’t sting you.
Q: Don’t honeybees die after they sting?
A: Yes, they do. Unlike wasps and hornets, honeybees have a barbed stinger: When used, the stinger is ripped out of its body and then it soon dies. So, unlike wasps and hornets, there is a cost for a honeybee to sting you. The honeybee instinctively knows this and will only sting if it thinks it must.
Hi! I’m a Honeybee. I’m fuzzy.
Q: Why do honeybees land on people?
A: Honeybees are foragers. They are looking for pollen, and sometimes they are looking for salt. Salt helps cure their honey. If a bee lands on you, it likely wants to lick off some salt and return to its hive. Not so threatening, right? If bees landing on you is a problem, buy a little salt wheel at a pet store and place it outside but protected from rain. The bees will eventually find it and begin to leave you alone.
Q: A honeybee landed on me and its stinger was twitching. That means that it was going to sting me, right?
A: No. What’s more, I think that this misunderstanding is the top reason why most people get stung by honeybees. Honeybees have a biology very different from that of mammals. Honeybees breathe through holes in their abdomens, which are sectioned and work like bellows. So when you see that a honeybee’s abdomen is pulsing, it’s merely breathing, not signaling aggression. So, don’t panic, don’t swat, and you won’t get stung.
Q: There are always bees around my swimming pool. Why?
A: Like every other living thing, bees need water. Check if there is an apiary nearby. If so, let the beekeeper know. He can set up an alternate water supply. Whether or not the bees will prefer the new supply over your pool is up to the bees.
Won’t you help the hiveless?
Q: There is a swarm of bees in my yard, What do I do?
A: First off, remain calm. Believe it or not, despite what over-hyped news stories or horror movies would have you think, honeybees are actually their most docile when swarming. Honeybees only swarm because their previous hive is no longer optimal. Usually, it is overpopulated. When they do swarm, they are looking for a new home. And since they have no home, they have no home to defend. And since they don’t want to set up a new home near threats, they will most likely avoid any threats. So, contact a local apiary. Honeybees are expensive. A beekeeper will gladly come out, adopt your swarm of no-cost bees, and remove them from your yard.
In just my short amount of time beekeeping, I can say that it is the most rewarding hobby I’ve taken up. Honeybees are very cool little creatures that you only begin to really appreciate once you start keeping them. The other reward is, of course, honey. Later today I will be prepping one of my hives for a harvest on Sunday. I expect to get about three gallons of wild sweet clover honey.
I am available for any beekeeping related questions you might have.
Are you a Ricochet member with an expertise of your own you’d like to share? See editor Tom Meyer’s post on how you can. Not a member? You can fix that here.
Published in Culture
Yeah, I would think at that point that you’d have to consider going commercial with it. That’s about three hive checks per week. And sixty-five gallons is a lot of honey/wax to process.
Thank for reading, Al.
I’ve had good luck using diatomaceous earth against ants around the house. But, as ants and bees are related, you may want to make sure it won’t harm the bees.
Thanks, PJ.
I almost forgot! Are you familiar with this Monty Python skit?
Here’s the long version with the story leading up to the song.
Yes, I am. Years ago, when my wife first heard me absentmindedly singing it, she had no idea what I was going on about.
That’s fascinating – since I have no sense of direction, I’m going to learn bee navigation!
Very interesting! I’ve always thought you could tell the difference between honey bees and yellow jackets simply because if the former flew around me, they were doing so sort of inquisitively, while if the latter did, they were doing so aggressively. And, as you say, the honey bees are browner and fuzzier! I also like bumblebees. They seem to have no interest in people and are only concerned with flowers – and it’s cool that they shouldn’t be able to fly, but manage to anyway.
What did I just watch?
You watched one of the reasons why, if I choose to, I can sell honey at a premium.
In southeast Texas, yellowjackets are very easy to distinguish from bees because of their long, skinny “waists” connecting the abdomen and thorax. They must look different in other regions.
The last time I mistook bees for wasps, they were little green iridescent bees. A bunch got inside somehow, but they were not aggressive and staying near the windows.
Why are bumblebees not favored for raising? Do they produce less honey? Or do they have a different temperament?
Bumblebees don’t make honey.
It sounds like you came across some Mason Bees.
http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/pollinator-of-the-month/mason_bees.shtml
Bumblebees, Carpenter bees, and digger bees are all closely related, and they do not form hives. They mate in monogamous pairs and build dens (or burrow into my deck) just for themselves (though digger bees will cluster together and share a common den exit, each pair has its own cavity within the den). They actually do produce honey, but just enough for their broods.
As they do not congregate in a large mass, they are not domesticable, though some people do raise bumblebees to sell as pollinators and guards against other insects.
Carpenter bees, were they not so destructive, would be a welcome addition as when they are nesting, they chase off any wasps that try to nest.
Rick,
Great post. I too am a newbie in the beekeeping world. This is my first year and already I’ve experienced many of the things that you mention. Bees really are docile and not interested in you unless you’re messing with the hive. Very fascinating creatures. The state of Iowa does encourage bee keeping because of the value to farmers and the environment. Keep up the good work.
Dr. J, good to hear it. That makes three of us (that I know of) on Ricochet.
What is involved in processing the honey?
When a frame (an removable board that the bees build comb on) is full of honey cells that have been covered by wax, then that frame is ready to harvest.
First the wax covering needs to be either scraped or cut off of both sides of the frame. If cut, then the cut wax should be placed in a filtering strainer sitting on top of the primary honey bucket so any excess honey can be reclaimed.
Next the frame needs to be spun twice, once for each side. It is placed in a centrifugal spinner. Once one side is spun, the frame is flipped and then the other side is spun.
Once the frame is spun, place it in an airtight container (prevent wax moth infestation), and store it in a clean, cool environment until it can be returned to the hive on the next check. The bees will clean it and reuse the comb.
Once the honey has dripped from the sides of the spinner to the bottom, remove the wax and place it in a pot. Then empty as much of the spinner as you can into the filtering strainer on the main bucket.
Continued…
While waiting for the honey to filter, add cold water to the wax in the in the pot. Bring the pot to a slow, low boil (jerry-rig a double boiler). Once boiling, remove from heat and let cool on its own. Dump the water (best not dump it down the drain). Remove the wax from the pot. Clean the non-wax residue from the bottom of the block of wax. If the wax is not as clean as you would like it, repeat the entire process.
The wax can then be used for whatever wax is used for.
Wow, thank you! Do you keep your honey raw, and if so, does it solidify or stay liquid?
I filter our honey, but I do not pasteurized it. Honey already has some antibiotic qualities (which is why it does not go bad). I’m sure if it sat long enough that it would crystallize, but it doesn’t last that long.
If you have crystallized honey and it is in a glass jar, put it in a double boiler and heat it. The heat will reliquify it.
I just did a quick inspection. The frames in the top honeybox (called a ‘super’) of our second year hive look ready to harvest. I installed a one-way trap door (a ‘bee escape’) so the bees can leave the box but not return to it. I will be pulling the super and start harvesting tomorrow.
Meanwhile, in Canada…
“Angry bees,” and this is why honey costs so much.
BTW, I will be posting pictures of the honey extraction tonight.
Processing: I have hive boxes which hold ten frames. I only use nine – it provides more room to work around the bees and not accidentally crush one. Of the nine frames in the honey super on my older hive, I was able to harvest seven. These are the frames. The yellow tool in the front is a “hive tool”. It is covered in propolis.
A frame is ready to harvest when the majority of the honey cells have been capped with wax.
In case you don’t know what propolis is, it is another useful substance, other than honey or wax, that bees produce. It is essentially bee glue made from tree sap and other things. Bees use it to block drafts and stabilize their hive. They also use it to encase any critter which wanders into the hive after they kill said critter. Propolis has anti-biotic properties (and some think anti-viral) which keeps the hive sterile as the encased critter decomposes. Because of these properties, propolis can be sold.
This photo shows propolis which was scraped off of a frame.
And this photo shows my propolis harvest so far this year. Most of the propolis was gathered from a plastic sheet called a “propolis trap.”
The wax capping must be scraped or cut off of each side of each frame. Here I am catching the wax in a metal filter on top of the main plastic honey filters on top of a filtered honey bucket.
Once the wax is left overnight to drain any excess honey, it is boiled in water to melt and resolidify it.
The frames are then spun in an extractor. The extractor uses centrifugal force to remove the honey from the comb. This particular extractor holds two frames. Each frame must be spun twice, once for each side.
An overhead view of the extractor in motion:
Once the frames have been spun, they are returned to the hive. The honey in the extractor is left to sit over night so that all of the honey drips from the side walls to the bottom. After that, the honey is poured from the extractor into filters set on top of the filtered honey bucket. Once in the bucket, filtered honey is then poured into bottles.
This harvest appears to have yielded over two gallons of honey.
Nifty. Thanks for sharing, Rick.
Thanks for the photo series.
Do you heat the wax-knife?