It’s been a slow process, but spring is gradually getting here.
All over the state, beekeepers are finally seeing whether their bees made it through this record cold winter. Sadly many did not, even for some of those folks who did everything right. They treated their bees for mites, left them with plenty of honey, wrapped the hives to insulate them, placed straw bales round them to shelter from the wind and still they died. Some colonies froze and others that were doing well started to rear some young during the warm spell in January. While this may seem like a good thing — and often it is — these bees were then faced with weeks of very cold weather. Those colonies that did not have big enough clusters of bees to cover lots of combs of honey soon used up the lesser amount of honey they were on. They could not move to the next combs of food because they will not leave their young behind to freeze. Caught in this situation, the bees starved to death with food just out of reach. Some winters are just brutal on the bees and on the moral of new beekeepers. But instead of throwing in the towel, they try again. Those hives that died out are full of good comb and often honey that took last year’s bees all summer to make. A new group of bees taking over that hive will grow far faster and stand a much better chance of producing extra honey and surviving the next winter.
In my bee yards, I had mixed fortunes. Most of my strongest hives last fall have made it through in great shape, far better than last year. For those hives that were not so strong last fall I had a choice: either to combine them with each other and over-winter half the number of very strong hives or take a chance that it won’t be too bad a winter and see how they fare. I made the wrong choice. Hindsight can be a cruel thing in beekeeping!
So, like many folks looking to re-stock hives, I will be introducing 3-pound packages of bees in April into those empty boxes. Within a couple of months those hives will be thriving and numbering about 50,000 or more bees.
Demand for packaged bees this spring is very high. Even though we managed to increase our order for April delivery of packages from 200 to 250, they all sold out. Fortunately, I have an additional delivery of 3-pound packages with Italian queens coming about May 11.
In the meantime, we are getting ready for spring during the upcoming Bangor Daily News Spring Fling and Garden Show at the Cross Insurance Center on April 11 and 12. I will be giving talks about being a beekeeper at 4 p.m. Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Again, I will have a booth with Penobscot County Beekeeping Association, so come and see us at booth 96 and 97. We will have all sorts of beekeeping equipment to see and bee products, such as honey, wax, lip balms, hand creams and candles to buy.
It’s been great to see so many folks joining my beekeeping classes. I still have five beginners classes to go this season in Sullivan, Howland, Orono, Pittsfield and Belfast Adult Eds and Intermediate classes at Ellsworth, Bangor, Newport and Hampden.
This year, I am trying something new as well. Many people aren’t able to make it to my weeknight adult ed classes and have asked me if I can do a one day weekend class. This year, I will run one day classes Saturday, May 9, and Saturday, June 13. These beginner classes will be at my house in Hampden and will run from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and will include 4 hours in the classroom and about an hour working with the bees. Morning coffee and lunch will be included in the $75 fee. Call me for more information.
By the time you read my next column, things will be really busy. I will be building up my hives in time for pollination rentals. Each year, owners of small blueberry fields and orchards have me bring some of my bees to pollinate their little piece of paradise. My bees are just a drop in the ocean of bees required in the big picture of course. In Maine, we brought 83,000 colonies to the state to pollinate the blueberries. That’s about 4 billion bees! They make a big difference increasing the yield by 1,000 pounds of berries per hive per acre. Most is handled by the big boys with thousands of colonies. I handle much smaller holdings where, say, two or three hives are needed. I like the thought that they are contributing to someone’s crop. It adds one more feel good factor to keeping bees!
Peter Cowin, aka The Bee Whisperer, is President of the Penobscot County Beekeepers Association. His activities include honey production, pollination services, beekeeping lessons, sales of bees and bee equipment and the removal of feral bee hives from homes and other structures. Check out “The Bee Whisperer” on Facebook, petercowin@tds.net or call 207-299-6948.