It's OK, parents you can stop sweating. I know those two words strike fear in the heart of every parent and no, this isn't "THAT" talk we are having. It's about birds and then we will chat about bees.
Birds have been busily constructing homes for their future babies, pulling bailing string out of the field where the goats carried it, bits and pieces of dry grasses that I didn't quite finish pruning yet and just about any other type of weaving material they can carry while flying. We let a robin finish building a nest by our back door because I didn't have the heart to destroy her hard work. She didn't realize that the light goes on at night and she built it right between two flood lights. Every time the door opens she flies away all startled and angry. She DID build it right by the door though. I should have moved it. They are ambitious builders and nesters and have a interesting lesson to teach us about bees. We give birds houses and they move in, faithfully year after year. Birdhouses get used -- a lot.
Bees have been treated differently. We are modern and accommodating to our bees and keep them in nice neatly stacked houses but we have forgotten that they have the same instinct as birds. If you give them a home, they'll likely use it. This is the time of year that hives split and swarms form and make their big break. Bees have awakened from their winter sleep and have found pollen on trees, dandelions (one of their best first foods), henbit (the purple flowering plant in everyone's yards) and chickweed. Because they are growing in number, frequently they run out of room in their current home/hive and they divide themselves, make a new queen and half of them leave.
When you see a swarm, don't be alarmed. They are docile, focused on their work and likely not at all interested in dying to give you a sting. Yes, when they sting you, they die. They want to live, that's why they swarmed in the first place. They appear to be in a big beard shaped mass because they are clustered around their new queen. Don't kill them. Just call a beekeeper and they will happily save themselves $200 by collecting the swarm. Like birds, if you give them a place to move to (like an empty hive) they'll likely happily accept it.
Bees are essential to the food we grow. In fact, some statistics say that every third bite of food you eat is due to the pollination of bees. That's a lot of important work they do and deserve to be protected, respected and understood. Besides that, they make delicious honey! We will have a demonstration hive at the Cottage Flower Shop where you can view the bees and watch them work. Check back in about a month and they should be happily working away building their new home.
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Editor's note: Mechel Wall is owner and operator of both The Cottage Flower Shop and Wallflower Farm. She can be contacted at [email protected].
Editorial on 04/18/2018