A little bit of Pooh

“Well," said Pooh, "what I like best," and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called.”

A. Milne

I love honey. I love the simplicity of it. I love the wonder of how it is created. I love the taste and aroma of it. And on top of all this, it is good for you! This said, is it any surprise that last Wednesday found me at my first Beekeepers Association meeting?

I must confess that I was very nervous about going. I timidly crept in the room, fully knowing that the website had said this meeting was open to the public, but still nervous and feeling like an outsider. As I cast about for some gatekeeper with whom I could announce myself I chanced upon a semi new beekeepers, Lenni and her husband Don, who invited me to join their table. I quickly found everyone there to be fully welcoming, one person offering me a plate of food, another bringing me a name tag.

I soon found myself involved in a discussion as to the difficulty at getting a smoker fire to last. While I have been educating myself as to the ins and outs of beekeeping, I knew I had much to learn. I quickly discovered that pine needles and cones make great fuel and many beekeepers just pick up detritus around the bee yard to fill their smoker. The challenge with smokers is that the fire has a tendency to peter out. The trick is to be patient enough with your smoker to get the fire to a nice even smolder instead of a quick hot burn.

I also learned that Re-Queening a hive is fairly difficult. The literature all makes the process sound fairly simple. When you buy a new queen, she comes in a cage with a block of sugar candy in the opening. As she gradually eats through it, her pheromones disperse through the hive. By the time she emerges, the hive is loyal to her. However, many beekeepers find that the queen has difficulty in emerging and needs a helping hand. The beekeeper is taking a chance in this, because if they leave her in she will die but if they take her out to soon the hive bees will kill her.

One beekeeper told us the tragic saga of the end of one of his hives. I found it rather amusing and am thinking of re-touching the story later in my blog.

All together I had a lovely time and hope to go again. Beekeepers know how to have a good time with their cooking competitions, honey tastings, tall tales, funny anecdotes, and friendly fellowship. Currently, beekeeping as a hobby seems to be for retirees and stay at home mom’s. I would love to see more people joining in on the fun. If you don’t have the land to place a hive, see if a good friend would let you tend to a hive on their land. I bet for the promise of free honey you can win them over in no time. Also, look into adopting a swarm. They are a little more challenging to get going, but well worth it.