There is something very spiritual for me as I work with my honey bees. Perhaps because I have to move slow, work carefully and am alone in the midst of several hundred thousand bees. Though It is hot in my bee suit, I a still a rookie, a "New-bee" if you will. I often don't wear gloves, or just a pair of nitrite "surgical" gloves when I am just feeding them this time of year. When there is little nectar - hot weather will dry nectar out in the flowers, feeding the bees will help them prepare well for winter.
As I move slowly from hive to hive, I marvel at how they have grown the hive. Just one queen, laying up to 1,500 eggs a day takes a spring hive from 3,000 to 5,000 bees up to 50,000 or 60,000 mid summer. Remember, each bee lives about 6 weeks after they emerge from their capped cell. By winter the queen will slow down egg production and begin laying eggs that will become "fat" bees that can survive longer and care for her during a harsh winter. These bees can lives months instead of weeks. (yes, the queen can love several years)
I lift frames of comb to the sky and look closely, seeing tiny eggs, larvae and uncapped pupae as the sun glows through the drawn comb. Here and there capped brood can be found... pupae in their last stage of development, their cell covered with wax as they contemplate for a few days before emerging.
All over I see the miracle that God made when he created these insects. The newly emerged bees wobble a bit and are lighter in color than older bees. House bees, all usually less than 3 weeks old care for eggs, larvae and pupae. The foraging bees, all usually older than 3 weeks old, come and go, pollen baskets on their rear legs laden with pollen of all colors.
It is a wonderment, a miracle, a God inspired design that sings to me as I work. I don't often smoke them, I find if I work slowly they are little bothered by my cautious care.
Stephen Hollen is an award winning storyteller, humorist and Mark Twain Impersonator living in Beavercreek, Ohio. He performs and tells stories in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, West Virginia, Michigan and throughout the USA.
As I move slowly from hive to hive, I marvel at how they have grown the hive. Just one queen, laying up to 1,500 eggs a day takes a spring hive from 3,000 to 5,000 bees up to 50,000 or 60,000 mid summer. Remember, each bee lives about 6 weeks after they emerge from their capped cell. By winter the queen will slow down egg production and begin laying eggs that will become "fat" bees that can survive longer and care for her during a harsh winter. These bees can lives months instead of weeks. (yes, the queen can love several years)
I lift frames of comb to the sky and look closely, seeing tiny eggs, larvae and uncapped pupae as the sun glows through the drawn comb. Here and there capped brood can be found... pupae in their last stage of development, their cell covered with wax as they contemplate for a few days before emerging.
All over I see the miracle that God made when he created these insects. The newly emerged bees wobble a bit and are lighter in color than older bees. House bees, all usually less than 3 weeks old care for eggs, larvae and pupae. The foraging bees, all usually older than 3 weeks old, come and go, pollen baskets on their rear legs laden with pollen of all colors.
It is a wonderment, a miracle, a God inspired design that sings to me as I work. I don't often smoke them, I find if I work slowly they are little bothered by my cautious care.
Stephen Hollen is an award winning storyteller, humorist and Mark Twain Impersonator living in Beavercreek, Ohio. He performs and tells stories in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, West Virginia, Michigan and throughout the USA.
