WHAT’S THE BUZZZ ALL ABOUT?
This month I have decided to write a public interest article about honeybees that I ampersonally involved with and have been for the last decade. This article will reflect some of my history as well as interesting facts you may or may not know. Now in case you are wondering if I have ever gotten in a jam with the bees, my answer would be does a bear live (could have said something else here) in the woods? Absolutely I have. It would be akin to playing with matches. Most of the time it has been my fault when I have been stung. Bees by nature are very hard workers and they do not like to think they are being
On a calmer note, this has happened nomore than 3 times in 10 years and it has always been my fault. They in fact are more than forgiving realizing I open up their house every week to check on them during the warm months. What happens on the inside of one of those hives is pure magic. Everyone knows the queen bee is the head kahuna. She guides the hive with her pheromones. As long as she keeps those up to normal levels, the hive is fine. If she gets weak, the bees will quickly start producing another queen cell. It takes just a couple of weeks for that queen to emerge and if the old queen is still alive, let’s just say they get into an altercation. Usually the older queen will kill the new queen as she emerges by stinging her to death. If the older queen is too weak to get to the new queen, they will fight to the death. The winner will rule the hive. Occasionally if the older queen actually dies or leaves the hive, several new queens will emerge. You see, the workers don’t put all their chances on just one queen. They will construct several queen cells and I have seen ten ormore in one hive at a time.Thiswhole process never ceases to amaze me and soon after the new queen takes charge, she has a maiden flight and returns back to the hive to produce more bees. On an occasion, she is either killed, goes in the wrong hive (and is killed there) or for some other reason, does not make it back. Now is when the bee keeper has to be on their toes to recognize the absence of a new queen and get one in there. You see, during the busy season during the honey flow, bees will die in 45 days as they are literally working themselves to death. Being that it takes a new queen 16 bays to emerge from a fresh egg, up to a week depending on the weather to have her maiden flight and then a week to begin laying eggs and then 28 days for a worker to emerge, you can see time is of essence. I think the neatest things about honeybees revolves around their efficiency. Everyone has a job and is very good at it. From the day they emerge from their cell, to the day they expire, honeybees go through several stages. They begin as nurse bees taking care of the fresh brood and making new comb. They will move into bees that help with ventilation, exercising their wings to move air around to control the temperature. From here they start protecting the hive as guard bees, preventing other bees or animals from robbing the hive of their hard work. Lastly, they will become foragers bringing back nectar, water or pollen to nourish the bees and larvae to continue the cycle. Oh I almost forgot the drones or male bees. They basically sit back in lounge chairs doing nothing but waiting for the possibility to mate with a new queen if and when she emerges and goes on a maiden flight. Otherwise they really do nothing. As the end of the fall approaches, the workers actually kick out the drones as they are not needed to mate with a queen and of course they die. When spring comes around, the ruling queen will lay drone eggs (Unfertilized eggs. She has the ability to lay these even though she has been bred) and the cycle continues. Pretty cool huh? So the next time you see honeybees, realize they are really neat creatures and as long as you leave them alone and do not threaten them, they will go about their business of pollinating sowe can have awonderful garden full of vegetables and fruit. Becausewithout them, our life as we know it today will certainly change and not for the better. Support your local beekeepers association; read up on honeybees and enjoy the sweetness of local unadulterated honey. You will be glad you did.
robbed. Neither do I come to think of it. This particular day happened this past summer and I had been working with the bees to keep up with the honey flow which by the way was the best year I have experienced in over a decade. I try andwork
Yes, I always wear protective clothing when working with the bees, including gloves.
with themwhen it is cool so they are not hot or angry. This daywas no different and I mademyway through the 10 hives I have. Everything was just fine. All the queenswere present and laying eggs to keep upwith the honey harvest. I can remember they were really settled and into a rhythm and life was good. That is until later on that day I cut around the hives with my lawn mower!! probably should not do? Listen to it! My little voice toldme “Bill, youbothered those bees thismorning and theymay not be as forgiving the second time around today inbeingdisturbed.Maybe you should leave them alone and just come back later this evening when it is close to being dark”. I rationalized they would be fine and I had done this many times before and to be honest, I had. The difference was this year I had a hybridRussian hive and those guys have a shorter fuse and came out after me like a Ever had that little voice tell you something just prior to completing an action you
Look for the queen in the middle. She has a much larger abdomen and has a bigger thoracic plate on her back.
Nothing sweeter than fresh honey, YUM!
guided missile. Oh my gosh!!! I am sure if someone had seen me going across my field with my lawnmower they would have thought my pants were on fire. What they did not realize was that was in fact what was happening. I had on a tee shirt and shorts and you can imagine the rest. I came back to work on Monday looking like I had been chewed up and spit out. What a mess. I will never do that again; NEVER! ARTWORK AT THE OFFICE
Harrisonburg Artist: Mary Jane Lawhorne Rouse .Oil painting, mixedmedia collage, photography and jewelry are art forms explored by Mary Rouse. Through the use of an eclecticmix ofmaterials, she explores both representational and abstract ideas. Flowers from her garden and the beauty of the Shenandoah Valley have provided inspiration for many of her pieces. Harrisonburg Artist: Trish Bowman, Floral Artist . Since retiring her commercial design studio, Graphic Design, Trish has kept busy with endeavors such as landscape painting, jewelry making, and silk flower arranging. She has assembled a variety of colors and sizes of floral decor suited for any indoor environment.
Shenandoah Valley Native, Rouse, was born in Lexington, VA, grew up in Shenandoah and has lived in Harrisonburg all her adult life. As an active educator and advocate for the arts she has served the Arts Council of the Valley and its predecessors for more than 40 years. Mary Jane’s alluring floral creationswill be displayed at APT this February/March. Some of Trish’s favorites include the realistic succulents, and the mixed orchid arrangements. She says one of the best features of her potted silk flowers is, “You never have towater them!” Trish’s alluring floral creations will be displayed at APT this February/ March.
P i n e h u r s t Artist: Paula Montgomery I love art. I love to look at it and to create it. Santa brought me my first set of oil
using colors that are complementary to the dominant color in my scheme. I loosely sketch in the design and then apply paint and/or paper using brushes and palette knives to develop the composition. I paint and scrape until shapes emerge that are pleasing to my eye. My goal is to create images that are my unique creation. For me, a rose is not a rose but merely an inspiration for something yet to come. I feel I do my best work when I make it up as I go along. Paula’s alluring floral creations will be displayed at APT this February/ March.
paints when I was nine and a couple of years later, I won first place in an art show inmy hometown.The paintingwas an abstract with flowers. Ever since, I’ve had a love affair with painting flowers. My artistic process begins with a design concept and a color scheme. Fromthere, I smear paint on canvas, paper or board
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