Boy, am I glad that the silver maple trees decided to start flowering today. Yesterday the temperature hit 65 for the first time this year and the honey bees were out in force, looking for food. It was great to see the bees healthy and vigorous after the winter. Unfortunately, while the bees were out and about, the spring flowers were not. Well, the snow drops had just starting to bloom here, but a couple dozen snow drops weren’t doing it for a hundred thousand bees. The forager bees were all leaving the hives and coming home empty handed. As a result, there were lots of bees buzzing around, checking out just about everything, including people! Not that their intention is to sting you. Remember, a honey bee dies when it stings. Stinging is a defensive behavior and since honey bees generally are not particularly interested in committing suicide, they are not in a hurry to sting. But even as a seasoned beekeeper, having a couple of dozen honeybees buzzing all around me, as they tried to decide if I could provide a source of food, was a bit unnerving. It takes a bit of practice to stay calm around the bees. And one thing for sure about honey bees is if you don’t stay calm, neither do they. And excited bees become defensive bees. So next time you get buzzed by a honey bee, try not to freak out or you could make just what you are worried about much more likely to happen!
Ultimately, the bees around the farm house settled on congregating at the wild bird feeders, chicken feeders and goat feeders. I can’t tell you what they found there, but they definitely seemed to think it was their best bet for something to eat. And it wasn’t the seeds themselves they were after. After noticing an unusually large pile of seed below one of the wild bird feeders yesterday afternoon, I stood and watched the bees methodically pull seeds out of the feeder and drop them on the ground. No, don’t ask me. I have NO idea! But since bees range for 2-3 miles from their hives when they go looking for food, you can bet I was not the only person in the area they were buzzing around, nor the only one who had bees emptying their bird feeders. So I figured it was only a matter of time before my neighbors came pounding at my door asking me to corral my bees.
So this morning, it was a welcome relief to find the bees busily hauling pollen in to the hives, and much less interested in me and my bird feeders. At first I wasn’t sure where they were getting it, but I figured only a flowering tree would explain such a rapid transition from bees coming home with empty pollen baskets to most of the bees going into the hive with their back legs so packed with tannish yellow pollen that you could easily see that they were carrying it as they buzzed past. Witch hazel, pussy willow and silver maple are some of the first trees to flower in this area. Although we do have some of the first two here at the farm, we have a couple of huge silver maples, so that was my first bet for the overnight transformation. Maple trees do not have a showy flower. You might not have even noticed that maple trees have flowers. Since the tree by the house is very tall, and the flowers are fairly subdued, it a took a good look with a pair of binoculars for me to confirm that our huge silver maple tree was in full flower. And thankfully that is not the only silver maple here. So they have ample food to keep them busy for the moment. Thank you silver maples! You made my bees happy and I am betting you made my neighbors happier too! Over the next few weeks a procession of flowers and flowering trees will join in providing nourishment for the bees, and the colonies will begin to grow. They will soon being to collect and process nectar to make, honey first for themselves and then, if all goes well, for me to share with you!
