As I lay on the beach in Montauk, NY, soaking up the sun and relaxing during the family summer vacation, I was reminded (by an avid reader of this blog) that I had not posted in a while! My apologies, Uncle Pat, for keeping you waiting.
Just before leaving the Miami area for a trip, something pretty major happened. The colonies had to be moved! Now, this is major for me for two reasons: 1. I am a mere hobbyest, 2. I was unable to supervise the evolution. The city of Miami is laying a new sewer pipe right through the garden and the hives happened to be in the exact path of the work. Moving honey bees requires little knowledge and lots of guts. Fortunately, since I was leaving town the day the notification came in, James (from the garden's organization) volunteered to assist.
Honey bees, unlike many college students, leave the hive at the first sign of light to begin their days work. At this time a small and mature group of workers head out to forage. They work all day, returning to off load their nectar and pollen and head back out immediately, until the sun goes down. Only after the workers have come home can a hive be closed and moved. I prefer to use newspaper and duck tape to close the hive openings, but there are many other techniques that work just as well.
Once the hives are closed an old beekeeper's adage takes effect: if a hive must be moved, move the hive either two inches or two miles. Honey bees are creatures of habit. Even if moved across the yard, honey bees will try to return to their old spot due to flight paths. After any move, several bees will come back to the old location to find it has been moved! Surprisingly, this has happened to several of my friends returning home for the holidays from college...anyways, the bees will fly around looking for the hive in confusion until their wings fall off and they die. Colony #1 and #2 have been moved to another location in Miami. I am very happy that someone opened their yard for this temporary move, but I have yet to see them since and have no idea exactly where they are! No worries, I will see them later this week and report back. Hopefully the city will finish their work sooner than later and we can get back to pollinating the gardens in Opa Locka.
On another note, often I am asked what I plan to do with the hives when I move from Miami. (Yes, the Coast Guard is the military and we have to move every few years.) I plan to pack them up and take them to my next station! Emily has volunteered to NOT be in the car with me and the bees as we drive north (says something about "what if the bees get out of the hive, blah blah blah"). Ok, maybe I will rent a truck and do it that way.
If you have not seen this yet, check out this video from a movement to "Help The Honey Bees":
http://www.helpthehoneybees.com/#tv
Until next time, bee nice to your neighborhood pollinators!
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