For so work the honey bees, creatures that by a rule in nature teach the act of order to a peopled kingdom. William Shakespeare
This past month, we became honey bee sitters. We watch many gardening programs, and the vital role of bees in the garden comes up often. I have toyed with the idea of getting some hives, but knowing there is a learning curve, I have not pursued the idea.
Then, a few weeks ago, my husband announced we were getting a beehive! Seriously? As I said, we had talked about it, and this spring, he spent a lot of time among his fruit trees doing annual grafting and pruning, but bees? Now?
Three Reasons
First, he comes by this honestly. Two branches on his mother’s side of the family may have implanted this tendency: The Bertches and the Triplers. I mentioned the Michigan Berches in another post. The Tripler connection was documented in A Sword, His Scapel: In the early 1800s, the Triplers owned an apple orchard on Orchard Street in the Bowery on what is now the Lower East Side Manhattan. This is where my husband’s third great-grandfather was born and grew up. Perhaps some recessive DNA has now emerged.
Second, during his online search for information on fruit tree grafting, he came across a local beekeeper’s coop and contacted Dan and Val at Sticky Business Bee Company. They offered to loan us a beehive to help pollinate our trees. No beekeeping training is required. Whew!
Third, it’s just a good thing to do. As I mentioned above, we have read about the importance of honey bees. It seems a small thing to do in the big scheme of things.
The Bees Arrive
Having watched Clarkson’s Farm and the saga of hosting bees in the garden, I was a bit apprehensive. However, as experienced beekeepers, the Youngs assured us that bee sitting for a few months should be uneventful.
Now, we do have bees that show up each year, and our trees have produced well. We have no idea where these neighborhood bees come from, but they do show up. However, hosting bees nearby would only help with the pollination,
So, on an early Saturday, the beehive arrived. We were given a briefing of what to expect. They:
- get up as the sun comes up
- won’t bother you if you don’t bother them
- are not generally aggressive unless provoked
- have scout bees that tell the hive where the food is
- have guard bees that warn of danger.
They have adapted well. We’ve 
seen them all over our fruit copses and other flowers. I have noted that the scout bees and/or the guard bees may dive past my head to test if I am friend or foe. So far, they just move on if I ignore them.
Results?
I’ve named the scout Pete and the guard Andrew. We seem to get along quite well. So far, no stings. The beekeeper Checks on the bees and seems pleased with the amount of pollen they have collected.
The beekeepers collect and sell the honey as well as make products from the wax. We sampled the honey, and it was quite tasty!
It will be a few months before we can assess the success of this adventure. No matter the outcome, I am pleased to have these essential creatures at Maison Steinebuchel. This bee sitting gig is a great spot between no bees and becoming a full-fledged beekeeper.
Let me know your thoughts on our bee adventure! Comment below or email nhcullen@cfaith.com