We are in the midst of my busiest, and favorite, time of year right now. The first flowers are showing in greater numbers and the bees are starting to build up fast.
As nectar and pollen start to flow into the hive the queen starts to lay larger numbers of eggs. Soon she will be laying more than her own body weight in eggs, 2,500-3,000, per day. The eggs hatch into tiny larvae in three to four days. At first the bees will feed the young larvae with royal jelly, a rich secretion from the worker bee’s forehead. The little white larva rapidly grows as the workers gradually change their diet to a fermented mixture of pollen and honey we call bee bread.
On the ninth day the larvae is close to filling the cell it has been living in. At that time it will be sealed in its cell to pupate. For the next 12 days the larva’s body will metamorphose into an adult bee. At 21 days of age it will chew its way through the cell cap and emerge as a fully formed adult, identical to its sister bees, save for being a silvery color which will change to golden brown and black over its first few hours out of the cell.
Twice in the last month I have taken delivery of more than 200 packages of bees. Each delivery, more than 2.5 million bees. At times it seemed my barn was full of bees! Each package containing almost 13,000 bees and a new young queen bee to head the new hive they will build.
Many of those picking up packages were students of mine. “Newbees” starting their first hives. Others were replacing hives lost over the winter. In Maine, we lost a lot of hives this winter. This appears to stem from last summer’s drought which weakened colonies making them more vulnerable than normal to parasitic mite infestations. Unless hives were treated to rid them of mites several times last year they were likely to die.
The weather this spring did not help hives that did survive, or those newly started, to thrive right away. Warm to cold, cold to warm, made it hard for new or struggling colonies to build up numbers. Now that warmer weather is starting to become more the norm colonies are growing quickly.
I have also been very busy this spring preparing numerous colonies to pollinate blueberry fields in the region. I sent out 72 colonies this month, nearly five times the number I’ve ever had to have ready in any other spring. When they come back from their pollination adventures I will be preparing them for honey production. Typically, they don’t make much honey on the blueberries but when they are here in June they will have raspberries, locust trees and clover to look forward to. With good weather that should see the honey supers filling up.
My other big green project this spring has been the installation of a beautiful big solar power generation system. Josh Oxley of Solar Logix came round a few weeks ago to quote and explain to me what we could put up on my barn roof. We decided upon a 12 kilowatt system, about 40 percent more than I currently use. There is a decent tax rebate on the capital costs of solar generation systems and any power generated over and above our own usage will be sent back into the grid and I will get a full credit to be used within 12 months. Systems installed this year will be grandfathered at the current 100 percent credit. After this year, the powers that be, in their infinite “wisdom,” have decided to halve the credit for surplus power generated … so this is the year to install a solar power system. I can’t wait to see my first negative power bill! I will also see my propane and oil bill drop with an increased use of my “free” electric heat.
I have just a couple of beekeeping for beginners classes left to teach this spring. These classes will take me to areas which don’t often get a beekeeping class so I am quite excited to help out. The first will be with the Washington-Hancock County Farm Bureau. “Introduction to Backyard Beekeeping” for farmers, orchardists, gardeners, and interested resident/students. It will be held at the Blueberry Experimental Station on Rte. 1 in Jonesboro, Maine (Washington County). The event takes place on Sunday, June 4th from 11am to 4:30pm. Contact Tim or Mary Thompson at 483-4777
The other class takes me to Presque Isle. This class will be run by Adult Education, Saturday June 10 from 9am to 2:30. For more info call 207-764-4776.
My last class of the season will be an Intermediate class I’ll run from my place in Hampden. Those interested in that class should call me at 207 299 6948.
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 299-6948.