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Honey I killed the
bees!
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A Gardener's Diary...
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by Julie Harrell
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That was my first reaction
when, after creating last month's featured luscious grease patties with
organic sugar that the bees never touched by the way, I went outside to
see my little babies and noticed they were dead. No buzzing, no
nothing. A bunch of dead bees. I called the husband in a complete freak
out, then madly started searching the internet to find out what I did
wrong. I also placed a frantic call to Vilness Mattison. I was buzzing
around myself like a maniac, completely heartbroken that one of my
hives had perished. I tracked down Vilness, thank God, who immediately
told me that there was no way I killed those bees with grease patties.
Even if the bees did eat them. I hadn't starved them either, he said,
by taking away their sugar syrup. Evidently, bee patties take some
getting used to and the bees would have eaten them at some point. I was
still pretty worried so I immediately put sugar syrup out for the other
hive, who hungrily started munching on it, making me feel a little
better.
Off to the internet again, this time I found Bee Source forum, a very
wise and experienced group of bee keepers who talked about everything
from drugs for bees to organic without any drugs for bees. Here's a
current topic of discussion "Deadly parasite turns bees into zombie
slaves." I knew I found the right place, so I posted my query about the
hive dying, and everyone immediately piped up asking for photos. They
also reassured me that there's no way I could have killed the bees.
Whew! During my mad dashing around the farm, I really hadn't thought
about photos, so I set about trying to recharge batteries for three
cameras, none of which were charged, while hoping that the rain would
hold off (I had the hive completely taken apart) until I could get some
decent pics and put everything away. Once I got some decent pics, I
uploaded them all and waited to hear what the folks had to say about my
dead bees. The consensus was that I had a healthy hive with fat
undiseased looking bees, but they had lost their queen a while back and
the other hive robbed their honey so they died. No queen, no honey, no
hive. OMG! I had no idea that bees were like this. My other hive, they
said, was probably really healthy and strong from all that robbing and
by the way, welcome to bee keeping.
With not much light left, I brought all my hives with dead bees, honey
comb and a little leftover honey into the basement, then got out my
microscope to view the dead bees under some power. I couldn't see a
thing that told me anything, because by the way, I didn't have a clue
what I was looking for but the process made me feel much better. Bees
wings are beautiful when magnifi ed. While discussing stuff with folks
on the Bee Source forum, I chanced onto some local names and made a few
calls. One gentleman said he'd had 12 years of winter success with bees
by feeding them 2-to-1 syrup in an upside down jar on sticks over their
feeding hole, so I went right out there and created the same set up for
my bees. They love it! I have three more nucs on order this spring,
along with one for my DEC ranger bro who also lost his hive this
winter. I am committed to learning and growing with my hives, keeping
bees, sharing knowledge, admitting lack of knowledge, and accepting
mistakes.
On another note, here on the farm, the tipi has moved to Worthington
(Mass.) for occasional gatherings of our spiritual community there. In
its place we are erecting a pavilion onto the former tipi deck for
outdoor vegetable processing. The llama shed is becoming a greenhouse,
and we are tilling the area next to it for corn. During the winter
while the garden sleeps, I hike the trails here daily on my prayer
walk, clearing branches and talking to the old apple, cherry, maple,
pine and birch trees. I always circle round to the singing spring that
I have dug out by hand for the past three years. This singing spring
was once only damp soil that erupted at deepest rains, now it is a
clean water source. Every little bit helps, every little bee
pollinates, and we can all use a nice cold drink of water.
Namu-myoho-renge-kyo
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