🐝FMS 8: What’s the buzz?

When Jeff and I were in the beginning stages of creating Feynmansplaining, I knew bees and beekeeping were something I wanted to learn about. I thought it would be easy to find someone in this field. It wasn’t. Finally, I crossed paths with Master Beekeeper Tim Ferris. He’s sharing some facts, answering my questions, and showing us that we have much to learn in regard to coexisting with these fascinating creatures.

Tim is from New Zealand and has been working with bees for 15 years in the United States. He told me he took bees in a Lego box for pet day 25 years ago when he was in primary school. He and his team work to extract honey and bee byproducts from European honey bees for the development of pharmaceutical applications. He does this while adapting their management practices to minimize impacts on the bees they work with.

I asked him what it takes to get where he is today and his answer was, “Time and money, seriously though.” His advice is to set clear defined goals built into a long term plan with set targets and contingency options. Patience is key when you’re just starting out. Tim said that it could take many seasons, or bee generations for results to come to fruition.

Speaking of seasons, Tim told me a lot of my trouble with finding a beekeeper is due to that fact that bees and beekeeping actually have seasons. They vary region to region. Now that I know this, it seems like common sense. Here in the Southeast US, Tim says we have the largest bee breeding programs in the country and that the season begins at the beginning of the year. This means the Southeast, due to the relatively warmer temperatures maintained throughout the year, creates broods sooner allowing for colony population to increase quicker. Tim’s work and the bee season he works with begins in March and goes through November. He says that once it starts there is no slowing down until it is over.

The seasons can also vary depending on temperature spikes, and unpredictable things like bucks rubbing on and knocking over hives. These things can lead to bees flying early. Mishaps like this can make it hard for bees to find protein. When this happens, Tim and his team spread pollen substitute so bees can find what they need in places that are not bird feeders or robbing other animals of their choice nutrition.

We know that bees are important for pollinating flowers, crops, and things of the like. Why else are bees important? Tim says, “Scarcity. As natural resources become depleted, existence will rely upon innovative ways of being able to maintain a sustainable supply chain [of food].” This point brings up the looming question of whether or not humanity actually relies on the existence of bees. He said the answer is both, “Yes and no.”

“Some fruit crops are already pollinated by hand. Research papers on the development of robotic pollination are also being published. Humanity could eat wind pollinated crops. However, if we maintain habitat and nutritional balances for bees, then we wont need to replace an effective pollination instrument that has evolved over millions of years.”

Obviously colonies of bees are super interesting.

“The efficiency of honeybees due to their social behavior and collective work ethic for the survival of the greater good of the colonic is fascinating in itself”. Beehives are made up of roughly 50,000 bees and each bee within the hive is female. These bees within the hive have assigned duties that change as they age. Male honeybees are called drones. They hatch and 9 days later they are off with the sole purpose of mating with a queen.

The roles of the honeybees within the hive could be a cleaner bee or even a nurse bee. There are foragers and scouts within the hive as well. Each and every one of their jobs are specific to their role and their seniority within the hive.

Tim’s interests lie in the science.

“Just consider the complexity of the chemical and physical makeup of honeybees’ most basic products; take a look at the formulation of honey. A mixture of nectar or the residue of sweet insect excretion, that is swallowed into the bee’s first stomach, called the honey crop, mixed with enzymes, regurgitated, and then dehydrated with a unique fanning motion. Then it is sealed with a wax secreted from the abdomen of young bees, to maintain moisture content below 18% to stop active fermentation in a high humidity environment.”

The formulation of honey is another example of how bees within the hive work together flawlessly. It’s also worth noting that this “moisture content below 18%”, is always the case regardless of the weather outside the hive.

Tim and his team kick off their season by orchestrating a Gamma radiation sterilization event in the spring where they sterilize used bee equipment to destroy pathogen residues.

“We reach out to local bee clubs in a program marketing attempt to encompass the area in which we operate our apiary operations. We share the environment with other beekeepers, farmers and backyard gardeners. There can be a significant overlap with environmental impacts and the program can minimize some of these impacts.”

Tim says to think of a two mile radius from the apiary location and that is the area is the bee’s environmental overwintering opportunity. This shows us that programs like the Gamma radiation sterilization one Tim facilitates, are important steps for the safety and consideration of bees and the work they do for our environment.

I told Tim (with the utmost confidence, I might add), I was surprised to learn that bees were so docile, and asked him what some other misconceptions were about these creatures. He quickly shot me down and showed me I was the one with the misconception.

“Bee’s traits can vary. Aggressive and defensive behaviors are different commodities with different genetic stock. Environmental conditions and the abundance of resources can greatly effect the docile nature of bees. The bees demeanor does change throughout the season though. Bees can be quite merry while on a nectar flow, happy in their task, building the resources within the colony. Through the season they tend to become more defensive, protecting their overwintering ability.”

He added a couple more things to the list of things I assumed but was wrong about;

• Bees, everyday, are evaluating the environmental conditions and the nutritional needs of their colony.

• Bees are not always actively foraging, as they require just the right amount of light to navigate long distance flights from the hive.

• They have three photocell eyes on the back of their heads that they use for navigating their flights.

And he also confirmed what little knowledge I did have going into this;

• Bees struggle to fly when its raining. Rain drops mess up their aerodynamics.

I have been interested since moving to rural Georgia in beekeeping and planting wildflowers to do a small part for the bees in our area. Tim says there are a couple of things we can do to make sure the environmental conditions in your area are conducive to bee’s activity.

• Irrigate at night when the bees are not flying and you will conserve water from reduced evaporation and the bees will be able to visit your vegetation when it is flowering during daylight hours.

• By planting a range of seasonal flowering plants on your property you will help the nutritional needs of pollinators in the area. Natural resources are limited and only so much can be collected during a set period.

If you have an interest in beekeeping, Tim says don’t just jump in the deep end. Take a class, do a course or workshop, and find a mentor to get you started with the right knowledge.

Tim’s song choice

Follow your curiosity

Tim mentioned how robotic pollinators are being created as a back up should the bees go extinct. We don’t want that to happen, but here’s how science hopefully has our back.

The best way Tim says to support your local bee population is by supporting beekeepers. Buying local honey also helps. Here is a resource that can help you find farms and beekeepers in each state and in the provinces of Canada.

The EU is also working with farmers to get things in motion to save the bees by eliminating synthetic pesticides that are harmful to bees, you can learn more or join the movement with BeeLife.

Universities with agricultural departments offer beekeeping courses, both as part of curriculum and sometimes to the public. University of Montana offers a virtual course with apprentice level registration beginning in this month.

Tim’s taught me a lot. I hope he’s done the same for you. Bees might be small, but they have a massive impact on our environment and the foods we eat. We have a massive impact on them too, so let’s make it a positive one.

Before we close out today, I hope you’ll join us in the FOREST via the new Substack App. It’s a great place to catch all your Substack subscriptions in one place. It currently is only available for Apple users, but there is a waitlist for Android users that you can join.

Bee well,
Skyler