This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

West Hartford Hobbyists Enjoy the Ancient Art of Beekeeping

Honey bees are gentle insects, say three local beekeepers.

One of the earliest of human practices has been collecting honey from bee colonies. Honey bees were kept by Egyptians from antiquity. Sealed pots of honey were found in the graves of Pharaohs, and in ancient Greece, beekeeping commentaries were written by Aristotle. The art of beekeeping was also practiced in ancient Rome and China.

Today there are 1,015 registered beekeepers in the state of Connecticut, according to Dr. Kirby Stafford, entomologist and executive director of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES). But not all beekeepers register with the CAES, so there are most likely many, many more.

Patch recently interviewed three West Hartford beekeepers, all of whom have been enjoying this unusual hobby for a long time.

Find out what's happening in West Hartfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Dr. Kevin Krebsbach

Honey bees are actually very gentle insects, according to Dr. Kevin Krebsbach, a West Hartford ENT doctor whose interest in bees began at a young age.

Find out what's happening in West Hartfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“I often work the bees without any protective clothing. They don’t want to attack you,” explained Krebsbach, who keeps 10 hives in the fields at Westmoor Park on Flagg Road. “If their hive is in danger, they will sting and defend the hive. But if you move slowly and carefully, they won’t bother you.”

Having a lifelong interest in bees but only a beekeeper since 1999 when an ad on the Internet piqued his interest, Krebsbach spends a few hours a week in the fall and winter tending the bees. His 10 hives each contain approximately 30,000-50,000 bees. He oversees a half million honey bees
right now, but in warm weather his hives contain nearly one million bees.

The cold weather is bad for bees, Krebsbach explained, but they can live inside their hives all winter, clustering for warmth. They eat their honey for food, and in December, Krebsbach gives them sugar candy for sustenance. In January, when the queen lays eggs, the middle of the cluster is about 93 degrees, he said. But they cannot fly if the temperature falls below 40 degrees.

Although beekeeping is labor intensive, particularly in the spring and summer months, it is worthwhile in August and September when Krebsbach harvests the honey created by his bees.

“It’s a farming job,” he explained. “It’s like managing a crop in a garden. You hope for a good yield.”

His “extraction parties” draw some 30 people who are fascinated by the lengthy honey extraction process, he said. “It’s fun to see the whole process,” he said.

Another benefit of beekeeping, said Krebsbach, is the gathering of beeswax which is used by honey bees to build honey combs. Beeswax may be used to make candles, cosmetics, artists’ materials and furniture polish.

Krebsbach said he has been fortunate to have been given space at Westmoor Park for his hives. In return, he volunteers to teach beekeeping to campers at the Westmoor summer program and maintains an observation hive in the main building.

Judy Brenner

Judy Brenner has been a beekeeper for 20 years, first in her native Milwaukee and later in the Peace Corps in Senegal and Gambia. For her, beekeeping is personally satisfying.

“It is very gratifying to grow and harvest things, to yield something useful, like honey,” which she packages and gifts to fellow Jewish friends at Rosh Hashanah, when it is traditional to eat apples and honey for a sweet new year.

“I just enjoy being with the bees,” added Brenner. “It’s akin to people who like being around dogs.”

“If you stay calm, you won’t get bit,” said Brenner, who no longer bothers wearing gloves while working with the hives. “It’s not a dangerous hobby. Wasps and yellow jackets are dangerous, but not honey bees.”

Brenner will be setting up hives on land rented by a friend for a Community Supported Agriculture farm at the 4-H Center at Auerfarm in Bloomfield. Beekeeping is good for the crops, explained Brenner. Previously, she kept bees at a friend’s yard in Bloomfield, but in the summer of 2008, a bear came onto the property and destroyed everything—the beehives and all her equipment.

This is one danger facing bees, which is why bee hive stands are constructed off the ground and covered with a cement block to keep predators such as bears, skunks and wild animals from attacking the hives.

Brenner said West Hartford residents are not allowed to keep bees in their yards, due to a “nuisance law” in the town which she said is mainly a law against keeping farm animals. However, she said, beekeeping is legal in surrounding towns such as Avon, Simsbury and Farmington.

Pastor Dana Lee Hallenbeck

Dana Lee Hallenbeck, pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in Manchester, finds this hobby to be a tension reliever.

"I find it very relaxing to watch the bees,” said Hallenbeck, the former Director of Public Works in West Hartford, who compared viewing bees flying in and out of a hive to the enjoyment one may find watching fish swim in an aquarium.

More important for him is the fact that beekeepers provide an important service for crops that require pollination.

"Bees are a vital part of the ecosystem,” he said, pointing out that agriculture greatly depends on the honey bee for pollination. Without such pollination, there would be a significant decrease in the yield of fruits and vegetables.

“Backyard beekeepers are important for gardens,” said Hallenbeck, who tends a hive of Italian bees.

He also enjoys the fruits of beekeeping--the honey--which can fend off allergies and has antibacterial qualities.

He has been beekeeping since the 1970s and has never been seriously stung. Still, he wears protective covering while working in the hive. A sting on a bare hand can be quickly removed by a fingernail scrape to reduce the amount of venom that was injected. But a sting on the face is more painful and can lead to swelling.

“Unless you step on a honey bee, you won’t be bothered,” said Hallenbeck, noting that these bees are simply focused on survival.

Beekeeping has taken a hit lately. Colonies nationwide have declined for unknown reasons, which results in what entomologists call “collapsed colony disorder,” said Hallenbeck. Beekeepers have also had to deal with diseases from varroa mites. Another danger to hives is urbanization. With the development of more and more urban areas, there is less foraging for bees for nectar and pollen.

Bee Smart!

Honeybees are not aggressive by nature and will not sting unless protecting their hives from intruders or are unduly provoked.

A colony of bees consists of three types of bees:

Queens: There is one queen per hive. The queen’s job is to lay eggs. She can live for three-five years. She mates only once with several drone bees and can lay up to 2,000 eggs per day. Fertilized eggs become female (worker bees) and unfertilized eggs become male (drone bees).

Workers: A hive can contain as many as 70,000 worker bees. They are all female, but not able to reproduce. Worker bees live from four to nine months during the winter season, but only six weeks during the busy summer months. They literally work themselves to death. The worker bee has a barbed stinger that results in her death following stinging; therefore, she can only sting once.

Drones: These are the male bees. They have one job—to mate with the queen. There are only 300-3,000 drones in a hive. The drone does not have a stinger. Because they are of no use in the winter, drones are expelled from the hive in the autumn.

Source: www.backyardbeekeepers.com

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?