We’ve been creating an apiary for the last year or so up at Mossy Ledge Farm, our home in Bowdoin. Jonathan took the beekeeping class last winter and constructed our hives in the spring. Our new busy baby bees came home to their freshly painted, creamy-yellow hive boxes in May, and it’s been an adventure ever since!
The practice of beekeeping is in many ways the study of how community works together for productivity and success. And it’s been a fascinating journey as we begin to get to know our bees and how they function, how they thrive, and how every facet of their existence is based on a healthy hive community.
I still know very little about beekeeping, however I heard that people talk to their bees. And that there’s a long-standing tradition of telling your bees when someone in your community passes away, gets married, has a baby, goes off to school, etc. There’s something about sharing the news from your community with your community of bees that goes back hundreds of years. And apparently the tradition of sharing your family or community news keeps the hive healthy. It’s even said that people would share wedding cake or other treats with their bees. Apparently you knock on the beehive to get their attention and then tell them all the news, and this keeps them happy and they won’t leave or get angry. I’ve always thought this was a really fascinating practice and I tried to take part in it this summer, although I have to admit, I didn’t get close enough to actually tap on the beehives. I was sort of yelling the news at the hives from a safe distance.
Despite my lack of practical knowledge, Jonathan got me my very own beekeeping suit, so I donned it in November to see how he “puts the bees to bed” for the winter. It was fascinating and incredible to be up close to so many tiny creatures who were not particularly happy to have us there. They got right down to protecting their hive, protecting their queen and letting us know in hundreds of buzzing little ways that they were not happy.
As we opened the hives to get them cleaned up — before we gave them food for the winter and then wrapped the boxes in their winter insulation — we could clearly see the different roles of all the bees.
First of all, I did not know that the majority of the hive is made up of female worker bees. They all have different jobs that include building the wax structure of honeycomb, gathering nectar and pollen out in the world, cleaning the hive and disposing of waste product, caring for the queen and all of the eggs that she lays.
There are even female worker bees who guard and act as security for the hives and in general the bees go about their business, keeping busy in their well-structured community.
There are male bees as well — the drones — but not really all that many of them, and their primary purpose is to fertilize the queen’s eggs. In fact, they don’t really need that many drones to do the job, so over the winter months the females will often push them out of the hive so they don’t need to feed them all winter.
And lastly, the role of the queen is to lay the precious eggs. If she’s a good queen, she will keep her community happy through years of healthy egg-laying and general community wellness. If the queen is not doing well, or if the bees think that hot weather or cold weather or other issues are being caused by the queen, they have no problem pushing her out of the hive and making a new queen for the throne.
There are so many facets of our beehives that reminded me of our busy little community at People Plus. For instance, we are primarily an all-female team, with Frank Connors and Taylor Carter as our token “drones.” Lucky for them, we do plan to feed them this winter.
And our amazing staff of ladies is always busy as bees as we zip around fulfilling the many jobs at the Center. And we definitely have some jobs that are just like the beehive: gatekeeper, housecleaner, program manager, nutrition manager – and we all try to share the jobs equally. And I suppose that puts me in the less-than-noble role of the queen, and I have no doubt that if I wasn’t doing my job, my staff would let me know about it! After all, we all have the single goal of supporting our amazing community hive.
And that incredible hive would not function without our hundreds of busy volunteer bees. They are the lifeblood of what we do at People Plus and most of our best stuff would not happen without them! They are the true workers in this hive and they make us lunch every month, drive homebound elders for free, teach classes, run the clubs, stuff fundraising envelopes, manage the organization as board trustees, and help us create the incredibly happy environment at the Center.
So the next time you’re down at the People Plus center, I hope you realize how sweet we think our jobs are as we buzz about the place making sure everyone in our community has access to health and wellness opportunities, a nutritious meal, a free ride, educational clubs, classes and fun social events.
And up at our farm, Jonathan and I can’t wait to see our bees again in the spring — to have a visit with “our girls” and see how they’ve fared this winter. We anticipate that the beautiful golden amber of their sticky-sweet hives will have grown — due to their cohesive community of worker bees.
Stacy Frizzle-Edgerton is executive director of People Plus, a Brunswick community and senior center.
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