Page 14 - Discover Summer 2022

MisBeeHiving CONTINUED
to lay thousands upon thousands of eggs
throughout her lifetime, without ever mating
again. This new queen normally returns to the
hive, but in this case, it is captured and kept
in a “queen cage”, which protects her from the
remaining 3 pounds of bees (a few thousand
or so), who have been harvested from another
large hive. Ordinarily, these bees would
quickly dispatch this strange queen, who has
a foreign scent.
Over the course of a few days, the queen
secretes pheromones that permeate the larger
cage, and soon the other bees adapt to it, and
adopt it as their own “hive scent”. At this
point, she can be released into the colony. This
is normally accomplished by removing a cork
plug at one end of the queen cage, leaving a
‘sugar cube’ barrier between the queen and
freedom. The workers then gradually eat the
sugar away, until a hole is created that will
permit her escape.
Honey, I’m home…
Now it is time to introduce this fledgling
colony into its new home, typically a plastic
or wooden box containing several honeycomb
frames. Each frame has a honeycomb pattern
base on each side, made of beeswax. The
workers begin building these out. As they
“grow”, they are used for honey storage, and
also as repositories for the eggs that the queen
lays. A special “queen excluder” screen is place
on top of the box. It is designed to permit
worker bees to pass through it, but not the
queen. Thus, as succeeding “stories” are added
to the hive, the queen is not able to access
their respective honeycombs, which keeps
them free of eggs and larvae. In these frames,
there will only be honey.
The colony must grow to a population of
12 Discover Smith Mountain Lake SUMMER 2022
about 80 to 100 thousand bees in order for
there to be a surplus of honey, which may
then be harvested. This can take from 2 to 3
years. Another requirement for a surplus is an
adequate source of nectar, or a “honey flow”.
We often assume that bees will get most of
their nectar from flower gardens; in truth, it
takes hundreds of acres of flowers to provide a
sufficient flow for a surplus.
In our area, there is a major honey flow
that occurs in the spring, from the tulip
poplar tree, and black locust trees, enough to
produce a surplus. Each flower’s honey tastes
different, and there are also shade variations.
Our local tulip tree honey is very dark in
color, while linden tree honey is extremely
light. Connoisseurs like to sample different
types, as would a wine expert enjoy sampling
different varieties of wines.
Some commercial beekeepers will load
their hives onto flatbed trucks, and travel
from one orchard to another in order to keep
their bees supplied with a fresh honey flow.
This also affords them some control over the
type of honey that the bees will yield, as they
can choose, for example, only peach or apple
orchards. This also provides the orchard with
an effective means of pollinating the trees,
thereby ensuring a good crop of fruit. It’s a win
for everyone.
Show me the honey…
After estimated costs of about $500, Bill says
that he harvested a surplus of about 30 pounds
of honey one year from his hive… most of which
he has given away to friends and relatives. He did
keep one jar for his own use. For Bill Pecoraro,
it’s about the honey, not the money.