Bees and Honey Part One: Beekeeping 101 with the San Diego Beekeeping Society
A Great Resource for Bee Enthusiasts
Bees are thought to have been on earth for over 100 million years. One of the first know depictions of an early honey-gatherer was a cave painting near Valencia, Spain dating from 8000 BCE.
Beekeeping has evolved over the centuries though some technology dating to the mid-1800s, such as hives with inner frames, are still used by most beekeepers today.
Why do people tend to bees? Probably most importantly, bees are pollinators. They are estimated to be responsible in some way for helping to produce 30 percent of the food we eat. Another reason, the primary one if I were a beekeeper, is honey! Honey on yogurt, honey in coffee, whipped honey on toast; the list goes on and on.
There are many resources for those interested in raising bees in Southern California. One of these is the San Diego Beekeeping Society (SDBS).
SDBS is an invaluable and practically free resource on bees and their keep but more on that later. I was there for the first monthly meeting of the year. Their meeting strategy is to start off the year with the basics of working with bees. Meetings that follow become progressively more advanced. One of the things I really liked was the beekeeping library they set up before the meeting.
Any of these books were available for a $20 deposit refundable upon the book’s return. This really reminded me of the honesty boxes you see at farm stands in rural areas. Real grassroots stuff!
Past society president Denise Bienias started off the meeting with some seasonal beekeeping suggestions.
She also made a few general comments about familiarizing one’s self with local apiary regulations. It was also suggested to give your neighbors advance notice of your bees. Who knows, one or more of them may be allergic to bee stings.
Society president Paul Gunn then informed meeting participants of SDBS’s buying program for members. Queen bees are responsible for laying eggs and propagating their colony. Unfortunately, most if not all feral bee colonies are now africanized after mating with a more aggressive bee species that originated on the African continent. These bees are more difficult, if not impossible, to work with. For this reason, commercial breeders sell queen bees from areas such as Hawaii. Robust apian agricultural regulations have prevented bees in Hawaii from becoming africanized. Queens raised in these environments allow beekeepers to preserve the genetics of a more docile species of bee that is easier to work with. Buying through SDBS, with its large beekeeping membership, enables queen bee purchases at a group rate. It was also announced that due to changing business circumstances, SDBS would be offering more intensive and practical beekeeping courses to its members.
Before the main presentation a representative from the San Diego County’s Apiary Program reminded participants of the apiary registration requirement there. With registration, the county can inform apiary owners of nearby agricultural pesticides possible toxic to bees. In addition, they can provide expertise in the biology and the keeping of bees.
Kellen Kanzuis is a farmer in greater San Diego. He runs Fred's Urban Farm. a salad green and microgreens farm. He raises bees on the side and is very knowledgeable about bee biology and beekeeping.
He emphasized three important concepts when tending to bees.
1). Know basic bee biology
2). Be aware of common pests and diseases and how to deal with them
3). Learn seasonal management techniques
Knowing basic bee biology facilitates effective hive management. For example, only queen bees lay eggs in a hive. They store sperm after being fertilized by drone (male) bees. Fertilized eggs develop into worker bees which are sterile female bees. Unfertilized eggs develop into drones, or male bees. After the egg is laid its “crib” is capped with beeswax to allow for full development. Depending on bee type, this “capping” happens in a distinctive pattern. If there are many more developing drone vs. worker bees in a hive this may be indicative of poor queen health which can lead to the collapse of a bee hive (colony). This is what keepers of bees refer to as “reading the hive” or knowing what to look for.
Another important aspect of bee biology is the life cycle of bees.
Knowing the developmental time line of bee development can be important for the management of pests and diseases. Some pest treatments are only effective during certain parts of a bee’s lifecycle. Additionally, some pests prefer certain subset populations of a bee hive , i.e., worker vs. drone. Knowing bee life cycle can also be important in isolating infected subpopulations which can result in better overall colony health.
Finally, seasonal management is a very important aspect of beekeeping and is concerned with the changing needs of these insects throughout the year.
In the spring, bees harvest pollen and nectar. Pollen is an important protein source for bees, especially developing ones, known as brood. Nectar is processed into honey, providing carbohydrates to the hive. The amount of pollen and nectar collected is directly proportional to the size of a hive. One would then expect peak bee populations sometime around the end of spring and the beginning of summer, with maximum honey production soon to follow. During the winter in colder areas, queen egg laying stops, and there are no more developing bees. Pollen and nectar are unavailable, and the remaining adult bees feed on the residual stored pollen and honey in the hive. If honey production was low that year, bees may run out of food. This requires the bee keeper to feed the hive with sugar syrup to keep the colony viable.
At the end of his presentation Kellen provided a number of reference sources helpful to a new bee keeper.
SDBS is a very helpful and approachable group, especially for the beginning to advanced beginner bee keeper. The leadership has decades of beekeeping experience collectively. Membership can also realize substantial savings due to SDBS’s group buying power. These two resources alone make the annual SDBS membership fee of $25 a bargain. For those needing more information on SDBS, here you go.
San Diego Beekeeping Society website
8810 Judicial Dr.
San Diego, CA 92122
Meetings are on the second Monday of the month starting at 530 PM. For more information there is a contact form on the SDBS website
Part two of this series will involve more practical aspects of beekeeping and honey production. Until then, bee well and thanks again for reading!