A Memorable Memorial Day – The three (3) B’s: The Bar, Beekeeping, and BBQ

For most people Memorial Day is about the first camp out of the season, cranking up the grill or the first get together with friends for the start of summer.  For me it is those things and a day of reflection of the sacrifice that friends of mine has made, brothers whom I have never met but in the fraternity of having served in the military. 

Memorial Day weekend starts out with many flags put on graves at many cemeteries, front yards across the country, and readying for many private and public events across this nation.  There are many big events planned during the weekend such as the 100th running of the Indy 500 where there is much attention paid to what this time means and why it is celebrated and remembered.

This Memorial Day was a little different from the last few I have observed in Alaska with a new twist being in Oregon this year.  It was busy but also a laid back weekend with various things going on.  Monday brought a cloudless day with bright blue skies, the snow-capped peaks of Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens showing on the horizon and warmth in the air that was a beautiful start to the summer season. 

Jan, Nate and I left the house around eleven this morning with shopping stops for supplies that the bar would need for the coming week.  Normally the shopping is completed on Sunday but circumstances made for the “chore” to be done on the holiday.  A full size pickup truck load of food, supplies, and other items were loaded and up to the mountain we headed to take the weeks provisions.  A few minor things were done at the bar mainly getting ready for a fund raiser “poker run” for a local boy’s family who was killed at the high school several years ago by another student.  This was a tragedy for sure but the community still remembers and rallies around the family and the foundation set up to keep these needless shootings out of our schools. Jan has been mentoring his sister and family as they cope with life after the incident.

We left the bar and headed to their bee hives to do the weekly maintenance and see the progress of how the hives were developing.  There are three hives that were started about two months ago so the colonies are developing and spreading like crazy.  I have found it to be an interesting experience as I have gone with them several times since arriving as they inspect, feed, and see the progress of the hives. 


Today was to inspect to see if the inner chambers were getting at least 70% full so they could expand and put another layer (box) on top of the existing one.  Out of the three only one was able to expand this weekend but the other two should be ready by next week’s inspection.


From Wikipedia on Beekeeping:

Sericulture (or apiculture, from Latin: apis "bee") is the maintenance of honey bee colonies, commonly in hives, by humans. A beekeeper (or apiarist) keeps bees in order to collect their honey and other products that the hive produces (including beeswax, propolis, pollen, and royal jelly), to pollinate crops, or to produce bees for sale to other beekeepers. A location where bees are kept is called an apiary or "bee yard".


Beekeeping dates back over 15,000 years with depictions of humans collecting honey.  Modern day apiarists use a movable comb hive and there are many different types depending on what part of the world you keep the hives.  In North America the most commonly used hive is called, Langstroth's design who has been called the father of beekeeping in America.  The differences in hive dimensions are insignificant in comparison to the common factors in all these hives: they are all square or rectangular; they all use movable wooden frames; they all consist of a floor, brood-box, honey super, crown-board and roof. Hives have traditionally been constructed of cedar, pine, or cypress wood, but in recent years hives made from injection molded dense polystyrene have become increasingly important.
Hives also use queen excluders between the brood-box and honey supers to keep the queen from laying eggs in cells next to those containing honey intended for consumption.  Most beekeepers also wear some protective clothing. Novice beekeepers usually wear gloves and a hooded suit or hat and veil. Experienced beekeepers sometimes elect not to use gloves because they inhibit delicate manipulations. The face and neck are the most important areas to protect, so most beekeepers wear at least a veil. Defensive bees are attracted to the breath, and a sting on the face can lead to much more pain and swelling than a sting elsewhere, while a sting on a bare hand can usually be quickly removed by fingernail scrape to reduce the amount of venom injected.
Smoke is the beekeeper's third line of defense. Most beekeepers use a "smoker"—a device designed to generate smoke from the incomplete combustion of various fuels. Smoke calms bees; it initiates a feeding response in anticipation of possible hive abandonment due to fire. Smoke also masks alarm pheromones released by guard bees or when bees are squashed in an inspection. The ensuing confusion creates an opportunity for the beekeeper to open the hive and work without triggering a defensive reaction. 
A colony of bees consists of three castes of bee:
·         queen bee, which is normally the only breeding female in the colony;
·         a large number of female worker bees, typically 30,000–50,000 in number;
·         a number of male drones, ranging from thousands in a strong hive in spring to very few during dearth or cold season.


When we arrived the group had gathered to do the maintenance and other items needed for this week’s inspection.  Several were already dressed in their protective clothing including the veil.  Jan put her suit on and her friend Mary also dressed out as they started working on the hives.  Each one the lid was removed, the different hive sections (10 in each box section) were removed, inspected for the comb making activity, the larvae chambers, and to see if the queen bee was in the hive. 

As things were pulled apart smoke was used to keep the bees in the hive sections and swarming around calm. 

You could see their agitation at times when the sections were removed or more when they were being put back into the boxes.  I think as the 10 sections were re-installed the crowding made the bees start to swarm as they were being moved or slightly crushed as the sections were added into the box.
Over the course of the afternoon only three stings were encountered, two on Mary’s fingers (no gloves) and on Jan’s arm as she removed her veil several bees swarmed into her hair and as she could hear them buzzing around her head started moving too quickly and stung her as she ran her hand through her hair trying to get out the couple of bees that had gotten into her hair.  Nate and I did not suit up but moved slowly when we were in the swarms or next to the hive parts being removed.  I have always learned that bees do not attack unless provoked so no fast movements or actions doesn’t upset their nature.
After our beekeeping chores we went over to some friend’s house for a BBQ get together with several of their friends.  It was a fun afternoon but everyone was ready to head back home to relax.  It was a nice quiet day of enjoyment and reflection.  I hope everyone had a safe weekend with family and friends.
 Ice

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