March of Fall

The rhythm of the days are changing... you can see it in the quality of the light, the position of the sun and the picture-perfect days. There is plenty to do, and I sometimes think of that old tale about he grasshopper and the ant. And actually there are many signs even for casual observers like myself. The quantity of crickets in the yard as I mow the late summer grass has increased, small frogs are starting to show up in all sorts of places around the house and down near the brook, and greater quantities of sparrows and finches are visiting the thistle feeders.

So, what does all this mean as one season passes across another? Well, I have always held a theory that for every day in the year there is an equal day - in light, temperature, and balance - on the other side of the calendar. I know, it is hard to explain, but on a morning like today, as I write this and look out over the Pequit Brook I am sure that the same light is filtering through the trees and the air feels the same as that picture perfect day several months ago and a few seasons back. So, there is my crazy seasonal theory.

Just received some great little cards to help promote the site as well as use a business cards. You should really check out the great cards at Moo.com. Silly me made a mistake on the first print run and neglected to get my telephone number correctly. I was crestfallen, because I loved the cards, but there was no way I could use them. I wrote a quick note to the folks at Moo and asked for an "idiot Discount" on a reprint. Very quickly I got an email from Dan M. stating "We do not offer an idiot discount, however we do offer a one time only, mistake reprint!" and lo and behold, the kind folks in England behind the printing press kindly send a new batch. I can not say enough about this great service. I urge you to create a set for yourself and for the shear joy of sharing make your talents known to the world, or at least those around you.

In Preparation
Summer is in full swing as the bees have been very active this season. Of course, the image of the Dragonfly is not one of my bees, but apt imagery for the languid summer days that are fast beating by.

As a harbinger of the Fall and noticing the rhythm of the hive, the bees have begun the process of sealing the hive for the colder weather. They have been filling every crack and every opening with propolis and have been tending to the hive every chance they get. They must have a list of things to do that has been programmed and wired into their short lives. They make a dash for the large white blooms of the hydrangea at the corner of the house. They make a beeline for the loosestrife that borders the brook winding behind their hives. Busy workers are packing cells and the Queen is laying her brood. They are deciding which of the drones will stay the winter and which will be set outside when the October winds blow. Now, of course, I have humanized the very thought that they have a list. But actually they have a time and course that has been set by the seasons and the Sun.

Of course, I too have a list. The honey harvest is not far off. I have been trying to figure out the best day to get in there and clear the hives of the five supers full of fresh honey. I suppose that I should get that done before the end of August. In fact, I woke up early this morning and was planning the steps to getting all my equipment ready. Clean the extractor, set-up the sieve and get some clean new buckets and pails. I have a stack of jars at a friend's house just waiting in his garage. I dawdled over a few catalogs, and made a few plans to set up some more equipment.

I would love some new labels, and get that small honey stand set-up in the front yard. I did manage to order some promotional cards for this blog in the hopes that spreading the word will halp me become a more active blogger, um, I mean beekeeper.

So many things to do, and such ambitious plans... almost like my honeybees; except they actually will complete all there tasks, I on the other hand, well... time will tell.

That is all from Postfield.

The concept of "consideration" for others... is this an old-fashioned concept and do people still understand the necessity of consideration?

It was, quite simply, a classic New England Blizzard. We sat up in our new space, high above Pequit Brook and watched the wind blow and the snow fall. The blanket, thicky covering the beehives as well as the bridge over the brook.

We ventured out into the heart of the storm at 3:00 am, it was wild. The wind gusted to almots 60 mph and the snow culred around us like cyclones. Drifts were almost five feet high and it seemed to mock us as we walked head into the fury.

I love storms, and the raw power of nature is incredible. I have particularly been waiting for a Blizzard. I only wish it was a linger storm, by three o'clock yesterday it had ended and we began the long cleanup.

Warm hopes for the bees in their hive.

For some reason I have not spent as much time blogging which incidently coincides with the fact that I have not spent much time with the bees. I placed the honey supers on vety late this year (July) and I am sure that the bees appreciate the space, but as for honey flow, I fear that it will be a very light yield.

The season began so late, mostly owing to the difficulty in actually getting live bees. My first supplier cancelled and so it was almost May before I could get another source.

The fact that I ahve not been able to spend much time on the hives does not mean that I have lost any interest. In April I was saddened by the empty hives and toyed with going a year without the bees, but I really missed the bees. I found a good source and bought two nucs and so began the season.

Earlier this week I was mowing down by the brook and you could smell the beeswax and honey on the light breeze. For me there is nothing finer than the fragrance of the apiary.

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I took a look inside my three hives. The extreme cold weather here in the Northeast has taken a toll on the bees. Only one hive has thus far survived and it appears weak. It is always a sad occurence to lose the bees. I will spend some time this weekend looking into the surviving hive and perhaps giving them some food in the hope that they will make it through the next few weeks.

I will order new bees over the next few weeks. Now is the time to get ready for Spring and I am thinking about repainting the hives and building up the apiary. If you are interested in learning more, or corresponding, please email me.

Over the past few weeks it has been unseasonably warm. So warm, in fact, that the bees have been out and about their hives. All three hives show a strong colony going into the winter. The deep freeze is about to begin this week and with temps that will drop ino the single digots I hope that the girls will be snug and safe.

At the beekeeping club meeting we voted in our new board of directors. The club has high hopes for a new year full of interesting sessions and meetings. People have already begun to plan for Spring orders of bees and nucleus hives. In fact a neighboring county beekeping club has ordered 600 packages of bees for shipment from Georgia to Massachusetts in April.

I'll keep my fingers crossed.

It has been a fairly dry summer here, and all the while we have needed rain for gardens and flowers, the bees dislike the rain. My bees get fairly grumpy and many of the younger ones just hang out on the landing board or pile up under the edge of the cover along the front of the hive. I tend to wait a few days after the rain to let them get back into the swing of things. This is the weekend I had hoped to open the cover and see how the honey has flowed over the past several weeks. It will probably be delayed due to the rain that is expected. As for photos, I have not had a chance to even think about getting shots of this years's hives.

So much to do with so little time. Fortunately the bees are on their own schedule of time and place.

This past weekend I mowed the grass around the beehives. It was a perfectly dry summer day and many of the field bees were out doing their thing. It was the light frangrance of honey on the breeze that signaled the production process. In fact, the whole yard smells like honey and beeswax. These are the days when the bees are busily fanning the hive and evaporating the water prior to ripening the honey, and the smells are intoxicating. Ahhh Summer!!!

On a recent tour through a neighbors garden I spotted several honeybees polinating too and fro. Imagine my delight to think that these are my gals so far from the hive and seeking out mid-summer sources for our little joint endeavor. It is quite fulfilling to watch a bee gather pollen and fill up the pollen bags in her legs prior to making the long trip back to Postfield. How dedicated these creatures are.

I have been away for the past week, but before I left I placed all of the honey supers on the three hives in the apiary. It was really less trouble than I imagined, in that the bees were pretty distracted by the warm summer day and paid little if any attention to the process. Also, I had stored the frames in a very large plastic container and the woodenware was in great shape after being used only two seasons. It was, however, very hot in my bee suit and I imagined doing the work without the veil and gloves...of course that was merely a fleeting thought.

My casual observations showed very strong colonies and plenty of brood and honey production. Typical bees doing typical summer work. I will do some photography in the hives over the next few weeks to share the fun with others.

In other news, there has been some sort of political upheaval in the local beekeeping club. The issue is over the proceeds from the honey made in the club hives (used for bee school.) Yes, even in the seemingly innocuous world of beekeeping politcs are still an issue. I hope for the sake of the organization a compromise can be reached.

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Beekeeping is part science and part art. The science part is biology, ecology, botany and meteorology. The art part is curiosity, creativity in problem solving and wisdom. Combine the two and throw in 120,000 bees and you have your beekeeper. Curious folks who enjoy nature and creativity...plus there must be a bit of old fashioned yankee ingenuity thrown in for good measure. My family and frinds think there is plenty of kookiness in it as well.

Being a beekeeper is knowing when to take an passive role in management of the beehive coupled with a sense as to when to intervene. It has been so very hot and humid here that at night there are thousands of honeybees languishing outside the hive entrances. It is just about time to put on the honey supers, but I have not been able to get to it yet due to the excessive heat. I have been simply leaving the bees alone, but all that is about to change since I have scehduled an inspection an some hive management this weekend. My plan is to do all this on Sunday, and I will report on the progress.

In other news, the local newspaper did a fine job writing about my bees. You can read all about is in the Canton Journal. I think that the writer did a superb job of explaining some of the finer points on keeping bees and people will enjoy the article. I like the fact that people are interested in honeybees and I am fortunate that I can be their publicist.

One of the nice things about being a beekeeper is the fact that it is kind of novel and people have tons of questions. Just this past month I gave an interview to th elocal newspaper about my bees. The interview lasted quite some time and the reporter, who is an excellent writer, seemed quite engaged by the topic.

The photographer was another story. I think that the thought of being within a few feet of several thousand bees was to much to contemplate. After several attempts at setting a date and time, in fact, I ended up having my lovely wife take the photos.

After a few candids were taken I decided to use up some time and shot several extreme closeups of the bees as they arrived back to the hive from a day of forraging. So delicate were their wings and gentle feelers. The smell of the hives, the murmur of the grass and the low buzz of the brood chamber. It brought back all the reasons that I am keeping bees.

Beekeeping makes you slow down. In the age of ATM's and the World Wide Web, beekeeping is still as simple today as it has been for centuries. I like observing and could watch the hive for hours on end. The best part is the slow pace of discovery.

In fact it was the observation recently of birds & bees that has brought up an interesting question. I have two ,count em, two pairs of nesting Baltimore Orioles. On each side of the hives hanging over the bees are the brightly colored nesters. Is this a coincidence? A friend at MassAudubon reports of a South American bird in the same family as the Baltimore Oriole that does just what I have described. The bird nests near bees so that the bees will provide safety from predators at the nest. I have emailed the local beekeepers with the question as to whether they have observed the same in the vicinity of their nests. Three beekeepers have reported that indeed there may be something to all this.

After I had put away the camera and taken off my veil, the sun had just about set and the mosquitos began their unmerciful attacks. As I walked towards the house a bright orange Oriole flitted past and into the hanging nest. I was happy to have the ballance of all things just right.

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It has been so very wet and damp here in Canton. The weather has deflated the ego's of many of the bees in the hives at the edge of the brook.

I received three calls this week from area residents reporting swarms. Of the three, only one swarm was picked up by a Norfolk County Beekeeper. Gary Libby travelled all the way to Stoughton to pick up a two and a hlaf pound ball of bees from a low hanging branch. The bees have been safely installed in a hive on the property of Ward's Berry Farm where they will happily polinate many crops throughout the summer.

I placed brood chambers on all three of my hives two weeks ago in order to give the gals more room to flex their wings. I hope to have honey supers on by July 4th.

We'll see...Tut Tut Looks Like Rain.

Norfolk County Beekeepers Association

On Monday I installed a very strong package of bees into my third hive. These bees were rearing to go, as they had already begun to make honeycomb inside their shipping container.

I installed the bees late in the day so that they would settle into their new home without much fuss. I have to say that it was and always will be an amazing experience. Several thousand bees flying around and ultimatley settling into their new hive. The sounds, smells and sights are so wonderful. It was if all nature was coalescing at my little hive spot.

So, all three hives are now up and running. I will check tonight to see if the newest hive has released and accepted the queen into the colony. All is well from Postfield.