The experience of inexperience

The experience of inexperience is not comfortable.  I know because it has met me at every season here on the farm so far.

Today William and I set out to harvest some honey.  I consulted with experts, reviewed a book, read blogs, skimmed forums and finally said we just had to do it.  All we had to do was suit up, smoke the bees out of the box and pull up the bars capped with honey.

It was not easy to get the bees off the honey.  A friend advised us not to over smoke or else the honey may taste like smoke.  So we smoked a little and then just sat with the bees and encouraged them (with a feather) back to the hive.      

This tested our patience.  We tipped the box over thinking that would encourage more out but as I tipped it all the comb collapsed on itself.

We guided as many as we could out by hand, and since the comb had already collapsed I gave the box a little shake. 

We loaded the box in the wagon and headed back closer to the house so we could collect the honey that was dripping all over the place.   We had two food grade buckets set up with a straining bag and the plan was to crush and strain.

On the way back to the house I had a overwhelming feeling that I had no idea what I was doing.  Before proceeding I needed a breather so with bee suits still on I invited William to lay in the grass by my side.  I stared up at the sky and wondered how I could be such an idiot.  Our experience looked nothing like the YouTube videos we watched. 

The sky answered back, be not discouraged, the experience of inexperience opens the path to gained wisdom.

I relaxed into this thought and forgave myself for allowing the comb to crush on itself.  I forgave myself for every plant or animal (and even child) that may have been miss cared for because of my lack of experience.  I am learning not to take my mistakes personally. 
  

It was good that lesson was had because the mistakes continued to happen.

As I began cutting into the comb and dropping it in the bucket I discovered there was some brood comb in there!  If the comb had remained intact I could have inspected each individual bar and only harvested off the ones that were fully capped.  I assumed that they broke off because they were too heavy with honey and that harvesting would be necessary in order to allow space for more brooding.  

Baby bees are all white, Maryanna learned all about it from an expert the last time we inspected the hive.  She saw a few and cried out "stop! don't kill the babies".  I really did not know what to do.  I picked up broken pieces of comb and inspected them carefully before adding them to the crush and strain bucket.  The obvious brood comb I set aside.  

I felt horrible and wondered if the queen got crushed somewhere between the combs.  I won't know until the next time I check on the hive.  I then practiced some really sloppy bee keeping, I took the broken brood comb back to the hive and wedged it in the the empty box.  I told myself, I may not know what to do with this but I'm sure the bees do.  I sure made a mess of their home and prayed they'd be okay.

Honestly I feel more concerned about the well being of the hive than harvesting honey.  I kind of wish I did not touch the hive today.  I wondered if I made a mistake in choosing a Warre' hive over the more traditional Langstroth hives. 

I wondered a lot of things and was grateful for what was learned.

A bunch of bees were lingering along the honey trail to the house.  Peter got stung on the tip of his finger, he said he was trying to save a drowning bee.  He was totally freaking out. I on the other hand was calm, I knew exactly what to do.  I have been through this before, carefully flick out the stinger so you do not squeeze anymore venom into the flesh, rinse under cold water and apply lavender oil and ice.  And I would not have known that had I not experienced a bee sting before.      

I forever will be a student of experience, for that is where we take ownership of gained knowledge, and that is where our knowledge becomes wisdom. 

A return to the bees

This season I've grown weary with all the work that's been required of me.  Everything that seemed so exciting and new in the first year of farming has shifted to feeling like heavy responsibility.  For that reason I'm sorry to admit that I've totally neglected the bees, they were on the bottom of my care list.  

My way of checking on them was noting their activity in the garden or heading out to the hive and simply putting my ear to the box and making sure they sounded active. I told this to an experienced bee keeper a few weeks ago and her response made me feel ashamed.  

The truth is I am so inexperienced in all that I'm doing, learning as I go with a book in one hand and at least 3 children trailing alongside me asking me hard questions and another 3 crying for my attention in other ways.  For that reason I'm not sure I'm an adequate care taker of anything here on the farm, nothing is allotted my full attention.

But with the bees you cannot attend to them with anything less than full presence and attention.  I knew this was a task I could not do on my own with a few children, I needed outside help.

Luckily just last week I came into contact with a woman who's been tending to bees for over 20 years and works at the MSU bee lab.  She lives only a few miles from us so we were able to set up a private consultation.  And what a difference it made!

I learned so much in the hour we spent inspecting our hive together.  So did Maryanna and William.  I learned the gentle speed at which to move and speak when opening the hive, how to properly operate a smoker, to use a turkey feather for brushing instead of a bee brush, and what signs to look for.

I have a Warre' hive , the bees build their own comb down the bar.  It differs from a Langstroth hive where there are frames set in for the building of comb and honey.  Right now I have just one hive but I have intention of adding a Langstroth hive in the future so I can experience both and decided what direction to continue with.  Some claim that the Warre' hive is more ecologically friendly and better for the overall health of the hive and Langstroth may cost more to set up but definitely produces more honey.  I personally lean in both directions.  

The bees were gentle and upon opening the hive I fell in love all over again.  It is hard to describe the energetic experience of interacting with the bees, for me it is as soothing and sweat inducing as yoga.     

We discussed propolis, the sealant produced by the bees, it has amazing healing properties and can also be misused.  In the natural world of healing many believe anything "natural" is harmless but the truth is all things must be used with wisdom and discretion.  I am happy this woman discussed this important message with me because another bee keeper misled me into believing we should collect and consume as much propolis as we could.

On the top we see the white pupa of a drone (male bee).  It looked good, no sign of mites.

Below you ca see the pattern in which the comb is built.  The holes vary in size for different laying needs.

We were not able to locate the queen but did see new larvae which is a sign that she is active in the hive.

Below you can see the even laying pattern.  That also is a sign of a strong hive.

I have three boxes on right now.  The top box is ready to harvest, we know that because the honey is capped.  The honey is capped when it reaches a moisture level of %17 and if it is harvested before that it will ferment.  

The middle box is actively used for brooding right now and the comb is just getting started in the bottom box.  I just ordered some new top bars and will replace them in the top box when I harvest the honey.

We broke off a piece of the capped honey and it was sweet with such richness you could not take but one bite.  We were all licking our fingers and chewing on the wax - what a treat!  Looking forward to many more peaceful afternoons attending to the hive.