Mary Reilly-Kliss, Ozaukee Master Gardener
“On those hot summer days, those bees want to laze on the porch. They want to drink beer, check Facebook, and gossip. They want to complain about the heat, men, and politicians. They want to be left alone.” (HT: Honeybeesuite.com)
This, in essence, is what has been going on with the bees at the Washington County Community Garden-West Bend, a project of the Ozaukee Master Gardeners.
We installed new colonies of bees on April 20 because our 2023 bees did not survive the winter. (The one day in February when temperatures hit 70° followed by a high of 14°, was enough to do our bees in. Heck, humans didn’t care for those temperatures either.) So, bees installed, we were ready to roll. The bees, however, took their own sweet time in setting up housekeeping, foraging, and collecting nectar. In 2023, we pulled honey for the first time on July 6. Thus, we anticipated doing the same this year. Not so fast, humans! The bees had other plans.
When we checked the hives around July 10, there was nothing. Nothing in the top boxes except for a couple of random bees. The bees were, however, bearding, the process whereby on hot humid days they cluster on the outside of the hive in a formation similar to a beard. By leaving the hive, bees create more space inside for ventilation, and when outside, they fan their wings to lower the hive temperature. Here's a link to some more information: https://www.honeybeesuite.com/let-your-bees-beard/
Fast forward to July 20: The bees must have heard us casting aspersions because we found capped honey! Before honey is capped, bees remove excess water from the honey by fanning their wings. Then they cover the comb cell with wax, and it is ready for extraction.
The bees have basically stopped their bearding behavior, and sound much, much less agitated. They are making soothing “We’re busy working here” sounds as opposed to the agitated, “It’s too hot, too hot for bees and humans” sounds of earlier in July.
IF YOU VISIT: We have observation “ports” on two of the boxes. Standing on the north side of the bee plot (#17), visitors will see a window on one of the boxes. With a good telephoto lens or binoculars, the bees can be seen working inside the hive. There is another observation window in the south hive, unfortunately it is hidden behind the white coneflowers.
Washington Community Gardens are located at the corner of Water and Indiana streets in West Bend, WI. Follow “the Bee Story” on the Washington County Community Garden Facebok page.
