We were given the chance to spend some time with Ron from Beekind Honey Bees over the weekend. Ron hosted a free workshop on Backyard Beekeeping, sharing his time and expertise with the community.
Backyard beekeeping has been a growing trend in our little town for awhile and so we took the time to learn more about this practice and offer the community a chance to share and learn from a local beekeeper.
During the hour long workshop he covered many topics including a lot of the information that you would learn in a paid introductory course such as ;
• What equipment is required
• How a honey bee colony functions as a whole
• Some of the individual jobs of the bees in the hive
• What beekeepers are monitoring and looking for when they manage a hive • Queen bee hive dynamics
• Seasonal impacts on beekeeping and hives
• Space required to have a hive
Some really interesting things that were shared that many people maybe unaware of are that beekeepers are working in agreement with local landowners and growers to install their hives on their properties. This symbiotic relationship provides the bees with an environment to meet their needs, while helping out the local growers with increased pollinator populations.
Another fun informational tidbit is that honey bees are not native to North America. We have many many native species that live nomadic life styles without a hive, and do not produce honey, but do pollinate. This paints a different perspective on the diminishing bee populations. There is a lot of mainstream attention being given to honey bees and so we think about climate affects and other predator insects. When we consider the behaviours and habitat of native bees to be nomadic and relying on certain environments to be present, such as flat open land, we can also understand that bee decline is effected by natural habitat decline.
What a wonderful and educational experience! Thank you so much to Ron from Beekind Honey Bees!
We hope the community will join us as we continue our season of workshops designed to empower and educate!
