EPISODE 101 THE BEE YARD…TWO MEN IN SPACE SUITS…A DRONE WITH A CAMERA
alan skeoch
august 2020
Our son Andrew decided to raise bees. I do not know where he got the
idea since my experience with bee keeping was an utter and complete
failure for manY reasons.
My failure as a beekeeper: About 30 years ago, maybe 40, I decided to become a beekeeper after buying a van load of old
bee hives, etc. at the Parker Petit auction sale north of Toronto…maybe near Beeton come to think of it. All I needed
was instruction and a load of bees from an American supplier. Getting the bees was easy. Understanding the bees was
another matter. First mistake… I put good bees in old hives. They got diseased and had to be burned. Awful. The worst part came
next. Ed (deleted last name) was my bee instructor. Seemed like a nice fellow until he turned up at our house when
I was away. His intentions were sexual and Marjorie was appalled. She phoned me at PCI and I in turn phoned
Ed. The call was not nice. I did not care if his wife was listing. So ended my beekeeping career.
Andrew, our son, will not make the same mistake. His instructor is one of my lifelong friends. He has been
beekeeper for 50 years. Loves his bees. And loves helping youngsters willing to take up beekeeping. It cannot
be a casual thing. Bees are one of the most organized living things on this planet. They do not take well
to amateurs.
MARAUDERS ARE OUT THERE
Russ: “Skunks and bears have killed many
of my bees. They find them tasty. The Skunks just scratch on he hive..like knocking at your door. When the
bees come out the skunk eats each bee as you would a nice sweet chocolate. A skunk can eat a lot of bees.
The worst raid was by a bear. My bee yard is near Orillia which can be bear country on rare occasions.
The bear just lifted the supers of the hive one by one. Ate until his gut was full then ambled away leaving
my bee yard devastated. I spent a couple of evenings parked near the hives intending to get that bear.
The bear outsmarted me…never came back.”
SEE THE white/yellow pack of pollen attached to this bumblebees back legs?
Sunflowers are immense. But no bees. No nectar.
The secret trial to the bee yard. I walked. Russ and Andy drove.
Our fields of goldenrod could be saviours of Andrew’s bees. Currently bee yard is located between
two fields of commercial soybeans. Long past the flower stage.
“How far will a bee go for nectar, Russ?”
“Maybe 2 miles although they do not like the long trips.”
“So what do you think, Russ…good bee yard?”
“The problem is getting these bees ready for winter. One hive is OK, the
other is weak. We may have to combine them if Andrew is to have bees
next spring.”
“Can Andy get any honey this fall?”
“Maybe, but the bees have to eat as well…I would wait until
next year when the hive(s) might be stronger”
Russ, the beekeeper in Andy’s bee yard. “Will the bees live or die?”
How can you tell that Russ has been a beekeeper for a long time? Look at his bee outfit.
The weirdest thing about this bee visit was that Andy and Russ dressed up like spacemen while all I wore
was short pants and a polo shirt. I should have been scared, I guess. Neither Andy nor
Russ paid any attention to my vulnerability They talked bees…as if I was not there.
“What if I get stung, Russ?”
“Bee stings could do you the world of good…my dad said
they were good for arthritis pain…reduced the pain”
“I do not have arthritis, Russ?”
“Well, enjoy the bee stings as if you do.”
“Alan, would you pipe down. Andy and I have serious work
to do here. Go out and take pictures of thistles.”
Thistle honey…a rare sweetness
“Andy, the success of any bee colony rests with the female bees. They do all the work.
The male bees do one thing and then they are useless. Most die. The females keep a
few around but must get irritated for the drones just flop here and there. They do nothing
except do a bit of breeding.”
“Sounds about right.”
“Meaning?”
“Women are multi tankers. They do most of the work around home. Men just hang around
and drink a beer or two…now and then.”
“Where did you get that idea,Andy?”
“From my dad. Look at him right now. He is doing nothing but taking pictures. We
are working.”
“But we are males too…drones. “
“Right, maybe we should consider a sex change.”
Marjorie and the bee keeper’s wife, Anne…plus a friend.
“Russ, could that mask… above Marjorie and Anne…could the mask scare skunks away from
the bee hives?”
“Scares me.”
We are awaiting the honey. Humans are such insensitive creatures. Here we are prepared to
steal honey from bees who have collected nectar from millions of tiny flowers. We are worse
than insensitive. We are greedy. We give them back sugared water after stealing their honey.
How did that fox get in the house ? Marjorie come and get the fox our of here..
Russ and I have been good friends ever since high school. We spent our high school years
going on camping trips using our thumbs to get rides, then playing football for years in the mistaken
belief that girls liked the game and would therefore marvel at our skills of knocking people down.
We were mistaken. We did, however, marry roommates at Victoria College, University of Toronto.
That was one of our great achievements.
This is our son Andy and his wife Julie.
Marjorie and her pet cow named Elsie.
Two beekeepers. Andy has kept bees for 1 month. Russ and his dad have kept bees for more than 50 years. “I still do not fully understand my bees even
after 50 years. I do my best to keep them healthy.”
alan skeoch
August 2020