Backyard Beekeeping

by Ashley Studholme

Even as the sun was beaming, the morning was still cool considering it was mid-June. Dressed in white, our hat complete with a veil, we were ready! No, no, not for a wedding, but to visit a honeybee hive.

Judy Kenyon was awestruck that she had the winning bid for Close Encounter with Bees during Prince William Conservation Alliance’s recent online silent auction. “Where else am I going to have this opportunity to experience a beehive so close and personal.” 

The honeybee is one of the few insects that humans have successfully domesticated and are important crop pollinators in addition to providing that delightful amber sweetness we enduringly call honey.  The human-bee relationship has had a long history dating back to Ancient Egypt where barges with artificial colonies would sweep up and down the Nile following seasonal blooms. Nowadays, beekeepers vary from small operations i.e. having two or three colonies to mass-scale enterprises that manage tens of thousands of colonies. 

Our close encounter fell in the former camp; a backyard hobby size with currently two colonies. Rita Romano has been beekeeping for several years now and guided us through her backyard where the artificial hives are tucked away. 

“We’re going to see three types of honeybees,” she explains preparing us for exploring a colony together, “Each colony has a Queen, worker bees, and drones. The Queen lays the eggs. The worker bees are also female, and they do everything else that’s not directly reproduction, they scout and bring nectar and pollen. They build the combs, produce honey, and defend the hive. (#beegirlpower) Then there’s the drone, the male honey bee, and they fertilize the eggs laid by the Queen.”

With a smoker and hive tools in hand, we three approach the 5-chamber tall artificial hive and proceed exploring frame by frame where worker bees store honey for their sustenance, and eggs are laid and fertilized to keep the colony flush with worker bees. 

“Oh, look at that!” One of the cells in the honeycombs protrudes and almost looks swollen. “That’s a new Queen developing.” Soon then perhaps Rita will be able to start another colony!