Slatted Bottom Boards

Mark invested in some slatted bottom boards this year, to help with ventilation.

Some beekeepers think it's an unnecessary expense.

We like them for the following reasons:

• bees don't beard on the front of the hives -- they can congregate down below the brood chambers. If you have an urban bee yard and it freaks out your neighbors to see bees bearding ("They're SWARMING!"), slatted bottom boards might be a good option for you.
• ventilation. Mississippi is hot. We have screens on top to help with temperature, but the extra ventilation may help us cut down on common bee diseases, like Nosema.
• the bees seem calmer. Maybe it's because they don't feel as crowded, but our colonies on the slatted bottom boards don't seem as aggressive.
• we can still use oil traps for pest control, rather than chemicals.

Here are two pictures.

The hive entrance is to the right.

The Hilts' Visit to Bee Hill

Some dear friends stopped by as part of their vacation. I've known Becky & Jay since we were all in college together at FC. They still live in Florida, though we're trying to convince them to relocate here.

We took them to Stafford's Big Burger in West Point for a Mississippi culinary cultural experience: fried pickles and fried green tomatoes. Oh, and I had a strawberry shake for supper. Annabelle really liked the fried pickles. My kind of kid!

They wanted to see the bees, so Mark got them all suited up and Becky took my camera. The bummer was that it was set on manual focus. Boo.

Here are a couple of pictures from their sunset visit to Bee Hill.

We really need to invest in some kid-sized bee gear!

The next morning we fed them deer steak, deer sausage, biscuits and eggs.

Then Dougray had some target practice.

It's a Redneck Vacation Extravaganza, y'all! Come & see us!

Making Room for Bees

For my day job, I spend lot of time thinking about agriculture. I am sympathetic to farmers who gamble on the weather, who try to manage everything just right to get the best yield. Their inputs are high, they have little control over many of the circumstances upon which their livelihood depends, and most of the producers I've met are down-to-earth, nice folks who are thoughtful neighbors.

That said, many property owners -- whether farmers, hunters, timber investors, or none of these -- could do so much for pollinators if they would simply make room for them. Wildflowers thrive in the buffer zones, areas between plantings, creek banks, ditches, field margins, and roadsides. Richard at The Peace Bee Farmer writes poetically about the wildflower meadow they planted last year -- just one acre, but it's a haven for all sorts of winged creatures.

Mark is investigating prairie restoration projects for some land he helps manage, which would involve native wildflowers over several acres. I hope it will become a reality, not only because I think some of our bees would be very happy there, but because wild pollinators, who need all the help they can get, would find a beautiful sanctuary.

How can you make room for bees where you are?

• if you have unwanted bees in your house or on your property, call a beekeeper, not an exterminator
• plan this winter for your spring pollinator garden
• allow room for wildflowers on the edges of your property
• preserve creek banks by not harvesting timber or planting/harvesting crops all the way to edge. Leave a buffer zone!
• plant a prairie garden (this is from Minnesota) or wildflower meadow (this is for MS)
• take up beekeeping! Seriously, having two hives will bring you a lot of enjoyment.  You don't have to be like us and expand from 6 to 22 . . . with plans to go to 50 in the spring. 
• lobby for bee-friendly zoning ordinances so people in urban areas can keep bees 
• work with your local garden club or school to create a pollinator garden
• plant pollinator-friendly plants -- herbs, flowers, milkweed, etc.

Know Your Local Bees: A Cautionary Tale

A while back, Mark got a call about a swarm hanging on a sign.

Given our positive experience at Kudos, he waited until I got home, and we loaded up with minimal gear for him and none for me.  Dressed in a skirt and sandals, I had no intention of helping, but would take pictures for the blog.  Easy enough, right?

Our confidence should have been our first clue that, according to Murphy's Law, we were doomed.

We arrived at the site to find a good-sized swarm hanging out on both sides of a big sign.  I jumped out of the truck, took a couple of photos, and got back in, where it was air conditioned.  I have told you we live in Mississippi, right?  All those ideas you have about the heat and humidity are TRUE.

So while Mark put on his gear and set out a box for scooping bees into, no need for a smoker, I settled into the No Sweat Zone, expecting a five minute wait.

Oh, how ignorance is bliss.

As Mark began spraying the bees with sugar water, rather than falling into the cup or box as they are generally wont to do, they got agitated and took to the air.  That should have been a sign.

Next, as he began scooping them into the box, they resisted -- rising up out of the box and attacking him.  Sign #2.

Soon the air was filled with angry bees, and I could see him flinching as some of them found their target. Confused, he walked toward the truck to confer with me. Next thing I knew, bees were pelting the truck like The Attack of the Killer Popcorn, popping against the windows and roof.  Sign #3.

Then Mark went back to try again.  Crazy.  You should have seen the people at the convenience store across the street looking at him, clearly thinking the man was nuts and had no idea what he was doing.

This swarm acted like no swarm we'd ever seen.  Mark walked into some nearby woods, chased by bees the entire way.  They persisted in their attack on the truck for several minutes.  I was horrified, but at least I was protected!

Eventually Mark came up to my window, which I refused to roll down. I may be dumb, but I'm not insane. I shouted for him to get his stuff, and get in the back of the truck so I could drive him home. He was *not* getting into the truck with me! I'd had enough, and so had he.  Especially since he hadn't tucked in his shirt -- after all, it was just a docile swarm -- and they'd stung him all around his lower back, up to where his veil ties criss-cross.

He clambered into the back of the pick up, with several bees still hammering him.  I took off down the highway, determined to blow the bees off of him and put some distance between us and the killer swarm.  He pounded on the roof to get me slow down and hollered something at me, so I pulled over. 

He wanted to go back and see what they were doing.  Unbelievable.  When we returned, there were still plenty of bees on the sign and in the air -- we hadn't made a dent in the population.

Our conclusion: this was no ordinary swarm.  This is, in fact, a hive of bees nesting inside the cavity of the sign.  Mark had attempted to storm a hive with a huge population of bees bearding on the outside of the sign due to the heat.  Their reaction was perfectly normal for a hive under attack.

A week later, our guess was confirmed by a colleague of mine who needed a ride home.  As we passed the infamous sign I told her our story and she said, "Oh, the neighborhood bees?  They've been there for YEARS."

Moral #1: Don't believe everyone knows what a swarm is when they call. Be a savvy beekeeper.
Moral #2: Be prepared for surprises and light your smoker. Every. Single. Time.
Moral #3: Observe the bees' behavior and act accordingly.