‘How doth the little busy bee?’ New group hopes to provide the answers
John Robison, president of a new group for beekeepers in Washington, Greene and Fayette counties, wears a protective suit as he shows a frame with waxen honeycomb.
The traditional circular, one-holed beehives known as “skeps” are a thing of the past. Modern hives contain removable frames.
A close-up of honeybees gathering nectar.
If a bee were the same size as a human, this scale model of a varroa mite would show its relative size as part of a demonstration performed at a new group for beekeepers.
Some in the agricultural community have referred to bees as livestock, but Betty Robison said although they have a short life span, others liken them to pets.
There’s a buzz that a new group is making a beeline to the Greater Washington County Food Bank in Centerville Borough to promote a honey of a hobby.
Known as the Tri-County Beekeeping Association of Southwestern Pennsylvania serving Washington, Greene and Fayette counties, the organization will meet at 10 a.m. Saturday.
The topic is “Growing New Queens,” who start laying eggs in January, but the group’s mission might be described as, “What is happening to bees and how can we help?”
Betty Robison of West Bethlehem Township, a Washington County master gardener emeritus, is an owner of Robison Acres Plant Sanctuary near Scenery Hill and treasurer of the beekeepers’ group. Her husband, John, is president.
She described how she came to be aware of the plight of the pollinators.
“Nine years ago a customer came to pick up some tomato plants. She asked, ‘Betty, have you noticed there are no honeybees around?’
“It really threw us into doing a lot of research, and we thought we should try to do something.”
According to the federal Environmental Protection Agency, the exact cause of what is known as Colony Collapse Disorder is unknown, but it’s a scourge of worker bees. Some point to the varroa mite while others blame Nosema, a gut fungus. Still others point to the Israeli Acute Paralysis virus, habitat loss or agricultural practices.
An older problem besetting beehives is American Foulbrood, which was found last October in Washington County.
Every hive within a 2½-mile radius must be inspected once a foulbrood infestation appears, she said. Hives that are part of an outbreak must be burned and buried. Highly contagious, it is spread by spores that have a 40-year life span and can live, not just in hives, which smell like a dead animal, but on equipment.
Robison said foulbrood was “one of the things that sparked us into wanting to form this group.
“You become so smitten by these little insects,” Robison said. “It is just amazing. They’re like pets.”
Others have likened bees to livestock.
Eight years ago, the Robisons acquired two hives, and lost one. But the “little insects,” who live only about 45 days, rebounded.
“Now we’re up to 19 hives,” she said.
“It’s really that hands-on working with the bees and seeing their struggles. Why do these bees die and what happened? You feel like you did something wrong.”
Meeting at the food bank is a natural fit for the fledgling beekeepers’ group. The property has an orchard of about 100 trees that produced its first harvest last year and was distributed to those in need. Among the donated trees are apple, pear, peach and plum.
And alongside the orchard to pollinate it are three hives, managed by Scott Hargraves, a professor at California University of Pennsylvania.
Morgan Livingston, agricultural innovation manager at the food bank, said, “We can benefit from his expertise.” A tree came down and inside was a colony of bees that Hargraves was able to relocate.
“Don’t just spray and eradicate,” Livingston said. “Even if they’re in your house, contact a beekeeper who can move them to another location.”
It may come as a surprise to some, but honeybees are not native to the Americas, or Europe, for that matter.
But European settlers brought honeybees with them in the 1600s, and many crops depend on them for pollination.
So, before honeybees arrived, what was pollinating native crops?
Robison explained solitary bees and those with small colonies were here first. People still see bumblebees, mason bees and carpenter bees. Various types of wasps have queens, and other pollinators include butterflies, bats and hummingbirds.
The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture regulates beekeeping and inspects hives.
Robison said there’s nothing cheap about keeping bees. She recommends that someone wanting to raise bees start in April with two locally purchased hives, which would cost about $800 including a protective suit with a hood and facial screen, tools and other equipment. Mite treatments cost $40 to $50 per hive.
Temperatures this winter have climbed and plummeted. On warmer days, bees will take wing and search for plant nectar, perhaps from a dandelion, pussy willow or forsythia. But because this is iffy, the keeper needs to supplement with food for overwintering, plus water.
And anyone harvesting honey will need an extractor, even though the average beekeeper doesn’t start out with plans to have a major honey business.
Robison estimated their costs during the first two years of beekeeping came to about $2,500, which included bee suits for each spouse.
Traveling or vacationing? It’s a good idea to have someone who will check your hives while you’re gone.
People who are severely allergic to insect venom should avoid this hobby, but for someone who’s not dependent on an EpiPen, “Usually if you’re not looking to bother them, they’re not going to bother you,” Robison said.
At Robison Acres, they sow native plants and avoid pesticides.
A lone coneflower, for example, isn’t the way to go.
“We tell people to plant in drifts,” Robison said.
If there’s enough interest, the tri-county beekeepers hope to have some evening meetings for those who can’t attend on Saturdays.
Robison expects some lively discussions. “Ask 10 beekeepers a question and you’ll get 12 different answers,” she said.
Anyone with questions about Tri-County Beekeeping Association can contact robisonacres@hotmail.com.