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On a beautiful spring day like this, thousands of honeybees move into Mike Rekart's hives. The member of the Denton County Beekeepers Association sits at about thirty meters with a beer and watches the ladies – all the worker bees are women – returning from their trip. The "pollen baskets" on their hind legs are filled with yellow dust from the 50 to 100 flowers visited.
A regular buzz comes from the wooden box. This sound, as characteristic of bees as honey itself, comes from the wings of insects that beat up to 200 times per second. It does not shake Mike, who relaxes in his Denton garden without special equipment.
"Beekeepers in this area are soft bees first and foremost," he says. "I can get close to mine. They do not sting my dog. The tension that I have is not aggressive. We are able to live in harmony with them very easily. "
Mike watches his hive not only for his own pleasure, but to see if he notices anything abnormal. Sitting early on a problem and dealing with it is vital to the success of beekeeping – a thing he's discovered the hard way during the first two years of his hobby.
"I did not do well," he says. "I survived the summer, then everything is dead. I tried to redo some things myself and I failed. Bees forgive a lot if you quickly expose yourself to something that happens to them, but I was not aware of the signs of what's going on. I needed advice.
Fortunately, these tips are available from the Denton County Beekeepers Association for any resident of Denton County who is considering the hugging hobby of beekeeping.
"I joined the club and it was a bombshell," says Mike, who now owns a "giant hive" in his backyard, eight more on shared land, more honey than he has. can not eat and a garden of well pollinated plants. lemons and avocados. "I have the feeling that I have 30 years of knowledge, not three, because the club is really more than the sum of its parts. You can contact many people for information that will help you, and beekeepers are very excited to share knowledge and give advice freely. "
The growing club of about 120 members is just over 3 years old. DCBA President Candi Pardue said her goal was to support the beekeepers of Denton County while informing residents about pollinators in our county.
Awareness is important because pollinators such as honeybees are responsible for a bite of the food that humans eat, according to Bee City USA, which named Denton as the second US State Bee City USA (after Beeville obviously) in 2016. Certification indicates Denton's commitment to helping these important pollinators survive.
Beekeeping 101
One way to help is to become an urban (or suburban) beekeeper yourself. Start by checking your local ordinances, which vary from one city to the other. Denton's, for example, states that you can have up to four hives on an acre of land, while Flower Mound says you can not have more than three on less than one acre. If you live in a neighborhood with a homeowner's association, check it too and, of course, consider the neighbors. Bees sting as a last resort (each bee can bite only once because tingling kills them), but a neighbor with a life-threatening allergy to bee venom will not be interested in this amusing fact.
You do not need to have a lavish garden or orchard. Your bees will feed within 2 to 3 miles of their hive and can move at speeds up to 15 miles at the time. "They can go 5 km," says Candi. "I'm trying to tell people not to have a tunnel vision."
Attend an introductory workshop on beekeeping organized by the DCBA, join a club to network with other beekeepers and consider private lessons. "Many people prefer to take classes," says Candi, who has taught beekeeping to beginners for five years. "It's not an obligation, but I tell people that it's always wise to invest in your education first because you do not want to spend your money and your time and then fail miserably." . "
So, how much money and time are you going to invest in your new business? Candi says that the financial component can vary a lot depending on your choices. Bees cost between $ 175 and $ 300, but if you wait too late in the year, you could pay $ 500.
"Most people wait until May," says Candi. "The sun is shining, we have beautiful weather and the flowers are flourishing, so they want to become a beekeeper. At this point, it's almost too late. Earlier in the year, you can start planning, the better.
You will also need protective equipment. For this, you can spend as little as $ 30 for a simple hat, a veil and gloves or get a high-end combination at $ 300. The same flexibility applies to your wooden hives.
"Do you want to go on the cheap? Or is it something that will look nice near you? Asked Candi. "You could spend $ 350 or you could reduce your expenses and reduce your budget to about $ 200."
As for investing in time, "I tell my freshmen to go to the hive two or three times a week. [from May to August or September], Said Candi. "There are beekeepers who have a more autonomous approach. They believe that you let the bees be bees and maybe check them once a month. This first year is a good idea to be very active. It's your learning, your education. The more you learn and the better you can anticipate the needs of your bees, the less time will be required. By the second or third year you have been a bit successful and you have a good idea of what they are doing and what they need from you. "
God save the queen (and her daughters)
When you inspect your hives, Candi tells you that you want to make sure the queen is healthy and lays enough eggs (up to 2500 per day at certain times of the year); that bees have enough but not too much room; and that they bring in enough pollen and nectar.
"We have times of the year in northern Texas where there is a shortage," she says. "It means there is no food available for your hive. Meanwhile, we can supplement foods with sugar, syrup, a pollen substitute and things like that. You just want to make sure that they are fed. Honeybees are the only livestock you really want to grow, because a fat bee is a happy bee and we want happy bees. "
These are some of the things you will check during inspections, but you will likely encounter many other fascinating behaviors. Let's start by meeting the three types of bees you will find in your hive: the bee queen, the worker bees and the drones.
There is only the queen and she is the key to the success of the colony. They will know quickly if she is gone. An experienced eye can find it; it is longer and leaner than other bees and has a sharper abdomen. When she is young, she does a nuptial flight, she lies in the air with up to 15 males, then, in many cases, never leaves the hive. She can live up to five years but can be replaced earlier by her colony if she can not lay her eggs.
Drones (boys) are created when the queen chooses to lay an unfertilized egg. They only represent a very small percentage of the colony because their job is to hang out in the drone assembly areas – the bee equivalent of a bar for singles – waiting d & # 39; coupling. Because they do not contribute to the hive (they can not even repel the invaders because they lack sting), they are usually hunted at the approach of winter and food is scarce.
The vast majority of a colony is made up of worker bees – queen daughters – who hold multiple jobs during their short lives. These are janitors (cleaning cells for eggs), nurses (feeding baby bees), construction workers (building honeycomb cells from wax and repairing damaged cells), and guards (ensuring the safety of the hive). They can also regulate the temperature of the hive, bring water, pack the pollen, seal the finished honey, remove the dead or even take care of the queen. Busy bees indeed!
The last stage of their life is, of course, foraging. These girls need to harvest the nectar of about 2 million flowers and travel about 90,000 km to produce a pound of honey. There is no time to lose for lost flights. That's why they resort to an ingenious method of communication when they have found a pretty bouquet of flowers. This is called the dance of the swirls. (Yes, really.) When a farmer finds something interesting, he comes back with the news and a sample. She glitters in eight and then makes an elaborate dance to communicate where others can find the treasure.
"Beekeeping is the most fascinating thing," says Candi. "And in your life, you will never taste honey as good as your first harvest of honey. The real local honey is amazing and practical, 100% better than what you will buy in a store. "
Threat Watch
Besides the intriguing behaviors of these little social creatures and the pounds of gold honey that you will be sharing with friends, there may be another reason to become a backyard beekeeper: "It would not be out question that our bees are actually saved by our small-scale beekeepers because traders are losing a lot, "says Candi. "It's not a fault on their part. I love them and respect them. They have a really hard job and do their best, but we also need this older style of production. "
According to Candi, colony collapse syndrome, which is the subject of much discussion, is not a single disease, but rather the result of a number of factors in our agricultural system. Large commercial pollinators carry hundreds or even thousands of hives in the country to pollinate almonds, berries, canola and other crops. These bees only eat one thing and are stressed by traveling.
"It would be like if you and I worked 80 hours a week and only ate cheeseburgers," she says. "At some point, we're going to be in poor health and that's kind of the problem these bees are facing. Bees are not designed to be slipped into an 18-wheeled vehicle and blocked for three days while traveling across the country. "
In addition to stress and malnutrition, the EPA notes that other risk factors for honeybees include invasive mite varroa, new and emerging diseases, pesticide intoxication, and alterations in body condition. # 39; habitat.
We can help with many of these factors as community beekeepers. "Our hives do not move. They have a very diverse diet with trees and wildflowers. We can supplement and feed them when necessary. In a way, they have a hard job. And creating healthy bees with cushy jobs is never a bad thing.
Good stewards
Whether you have an interest in beekeeping or just want to contribute to the safety of these important pollinators, you can help by planting bee-friendly plants, by supporting legislation that helps bees and by using caution when using chemicals in your garden.
"Bees are amazing and fun," says Candi. "The more beekeepers and non-beekeepers in the county can work together and do good with respect to the use of herbicides and pesticides and hive management, the better." We are stewards of this tiny bee. So we have to do our best and do our best to make sure everyone is happy and that bees are never a nuisance in Denton County. "
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