Weekend with Bees

I was a lucky girl this weekend. I took the Introductory Beekeeping Course at the Honey Bee Research Center at the University of Guelph!

(Sadly, I did not get to wear a bee beard like this fellow... I have no earthly idea why I'm obsessed with bee beards but there it is...)

I've been interested in bees and beekeeping since I took the U of G Apiculture course as an undergrad but never really pursued it; got busy with other things. The interest hung around in the back of my head though and now that I live in a town with a great bee resource, I'm rekindling the love.

I had hoped to start keeping bees this year at the husband's family's farm but having taken the course I now realize that I would need to be closer to the bees (the farm is over an hour away... my whole life is designed to avoid commuting so driving that far to my "hobby" seems like all kinds of crazy). Also, since we're still not sure where (if?) we will eventually settle down and bees are a long-term commitment, it just doesn't seem like the right time of life for having my own bees... if only I could put some on the roof of the building here... but that would be illegal.

I guess I will have to be a virtual beekeeper for now. I can watch these bees in Germany online while I work at home (I can even take a thermographic look) : HOBOS

Maybe there is something I can do at the Research Center... we'll see what happens...

Anyway, it was an interesting and exciting weekend!

Did you know there is a specific amount of room bees like to have around them? It's called "bee space" and it measures 9.5mm. A smaller space will get filled with sticky propolis, a larger space with honey comb.

(Side note: there is also a quantifiable "Lucks VanJeet space". It is 800 square feet and should only contain one person during the day and two people at night for optimum performance of the Lucks. A smaller space makes Lucks go bonkers and a bigger space gets filled with junk.)

This dude, Rev. Lorenzo Lorraine Langstroth, used the idea of bee space to invent the modern, movable-frame hive. For this he is considered the "father of modern beekeeping". Good on ya Triple-L! You're my new hero.

But the best part was getting to handle bees and bee stuff personally. Here are the pictures!!

For starters we all had to learn how to build the right kind of fire in a smoker. Putting smoke to the bees causes them to prepare to vacate their hive because of fire. They engorge themselves with honey, their abdomens get full/hard and they are less able to sting you.

Here are some workers with big ol' pollen baskets on their hind legs. The darker orange pollen is from dandelions, the yellow is from maple trees.

This is the Center's Apiculturist, Paul Kelly, opening up a hive. See all the bees flying around?

Wanna see a good bee beard? Click here to see Paul Kelly with one!!!

And here is Paul saving Leonard - who literally got a "bee in his bonnet".

We all got to take frames out of the hive and work with the bees a bit.

Here's the queen (sorry the picture is blurry). She is marked with green to make her easier to find. See how big her abdomen is? For holding all the sperms (she's a bit of a slut... bee reproduction is really crazy!! I could go on and on about it!!).

This is Dr. Ernesto Guzman, a prof from Guelph. He is teaching us about rearing queens here.

Paul uncapping a frame full of honey. Wayne, in the background, "won" the awesome privilege of wearing the bee cap. He was a good sport about it and wore it all afternoon. Julie, on the left, is an artist and is working on a cool piece involving bees.

Wayne taking a turn spinning the extractor, getting honey from the comb - serious business. (I love the expressions of the guys in the background in this one. Click to enlarge.)

Here's a larger scale extractor - where the work gets done at a much faster rate!

I'm somewhere in the picture below.

OK, well...that's a recap of my weekend.

As for the 4th Storey Farm, the seedlings are still doing their thing but they are pretty leggy and pale. I don't have proper grow lights. We'll see how they work out. I might have to resort to buying plants in the end...

The balcony is SO ready for plants. I can't wait until the last frost date!

The worms appear to be kicking ass and taking names! I can see baby worms in there now.

I think I'll sow another batch of greens later today.