H is for Honeybees (and a master beekeeper)

April 9, 2014
2014 A to Z Blog Challenge A Rural LifeDay 8
H is for Honeybees
We’ve reached the second week of the 2014 A to Z Blogging Challenge! This is the fourth year I’ve participated in the challenge, and this year, 2014, is all about My Rural Life. It’s sort of like middle America meets urban sprawl meets Walton’s Mountain. It’s my life and the forces that come together to make my unique world. 
So thanks for coming along for the ride in the 2014 A to Z Blogging Challenge.
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I promised a long time ago I'd tell you about my grandfather's beekeeping. Today's the day to deliver on that promise. 

One of my earliest memories is helping my grandfather make frames for honeycomb. Not many people around here kept bees, but Pop was known for his honey. And like everything else, if Pop was doing it, I could be found lurking at his shoulder, learning. (I must have been a real nuisance to my dad and granddad, always following them and asking bzillions of questions.)
Keeping bees is easier than you might think. The bees do all the heavy lifting and you just help them along. The older folks in the community would call my grandfather with a report of a swarm and Pop would hitch the wagon to his tractor, load an empty hive he kept at the ready, and off he’d go to see if he could capture the queen. If I got away before my mother realized what was happening, I’d tag along. Pop and I got away with all sorts of things as long as my parents didn’t catch us. My parents didn’t think BEES were an appropriate hobby for me to adopt. (They didn’t like tadpoles and crayfish, either.) All in all they were correct, but when I officially retire, I might see if I can find and capture a swarm to keep a hive.
The pictures tell the story. I think I was in my twenties when I took them. Pop spotted a swarm along the back stone fence on what had just become my property, a gift from my grandparents. My grandmother called and said he was working a swarm so I grabbed my camera and went to watch.
He spread a piece of plastic and set the new hive on it. For some reason, Pop only ever used aged scrap wood for the hives. I suppose anything harmful in the wood and/or paint had aged out and no longer posed a threat to the bees. Anyway, once the hive was in place, Pop would cut the branch the swarm was hanging on, carry it to the hive and careful lay it on the plastic sheet. The bees would spread out and he could spot the new queen and get her inside the hive. Then all the worker bees followed her in and Pop would temporarily block the hive entrance to trap them so he could transport it to its place in the row. Bee charming is an art and he rarely got stung.
Honeybees - all our pollinators - are threatened these days, and it IS a serious matter. I’m grateful that scientists and biologists take the problem seriously and are working on solutions. The world is not going to be a nice place if we lose the pollinators. Less fruit. Fewer veggies. Fewer flowers. Fewer trees. We need the honeybee. Even if you’re a city dweller, plant a flower on your balcony and feed a bee. You might be helping to save more than one tiny life.
_*_*_*_*_ You didn’t really think you’d get away without a 
brief book promo, did you?
H is also for HIGHWAY NIGHTS. 
For more information please visit my website at 
kckendricks.com/HighwayNights.html

KC Kendricks
Website: http://www.kckendricks.comTwitter: http://www.twitter.com/kckendricksBlog: http://kckendricks.blogspot.comPinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/kckendricksMailing list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/betweenthekeysFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/kckendricks