(This is Part II in a three-part series.)

After setting up their hives this spring, Duxbury beekeepers Laura Sullivan and Kerrie Capraro were hoping for a successful honey producing season following a disappointing 2011. This sentiment is shared by honey producers across the United States as last year’s crop, 148 million pounds, was the second lowest on record according to “The American Bee Journal.”  Yet 2012 is certainly not without concerns as hot, dry weather has been problematic in the northern half of the country and erratic weather in the northeast has posed challenges to beekeepers.

This June, both Sullivan and Capraro experienced swarms, a condition caused by overcrowding in which the queen vacates the hive taking approximately half the workers and a few drones with her to establish a new colony. Capraro had three separate swarms and Sullivan had one in which approximately 30,000 bees clumped on branches 40 feet up a tree in her yard.  Noticing the swarm, Sullivan quickly assembled an empty hive in hopes the bees would relocate on her property to a hive she could harvest, but the bees eventually flew off to parts unknown.

“I wasn’t surprised (by the swarm), they were very strong and going crazy the few days prior,” said Sullivan. Swarming significantly reduces the hive’s population, but a new queen is installed so breeding and honey production can begin again. “We never caught them. The hive got over crowded. The hive split in half and made a new queen. This is healthy and normal.”

Despite the challenges of beekeeping, Capraro and Sullivan are optimistic and joyful in their work. By the beginning of July, both beekeepers felt the season was going well and their hives had settled into an active and productive rhythm. One warm and sunny day near the end of the month, Capraro did a hive-check.

“We are hoping to match our good harvest from 2010, 70 pounds” said Capraro. “The bees have been filling the comb pretty steadily with nectar/pollen from the sweet pepper bush. It’s been blooming for three weeks and the big rains will help bring a last strong nectar flow.”

Capraro gives periodic educational talks about beekeeping and wanted to bring a honey frame to an upcoming presentation at the Duxbury Free Library. Conventional hives consist of stacked wooden boxes called supers that typically hold ten frames where bees build comb to hold either brood stock (baby bees) or honey. This hive-check would give Capraro insight as to how the hive was producing and allow her to remove a frame for her show and tell at the library. Armed with a smoke pot and securely fastened bee suit, Capraro was confident prying open a hive that the workers sealed with sticky propolis a substance made by the bees from plant material.

“Very stong,” said Capraro. “They’re looking great. They grew fast, and seemed very healthy.”

Once Capraro removed the inner cover, the open super revealed thousands of buzzing bees atop the neatly aligned frames. Many of the bees performed a dance communicating the location of food sources to the other workers. A few bees flew around but for the most part the colony was too interested in what they were doing to bother with Capraro’s probing hands. There were, however too many bees to safely lift out a frame so Capraro directed smoke from a smoke pot across the open super and the bees made their way deeper into the hive.

Capraro pulled out a frame, heavy with golden honey. Both sides of the frame were fat with capped honey. The frame wasn’t completely full but Capraro was excited to show it at her educational talk and let the children and their parents taste some honey right off the comb. Capraro put a new frame in its place so the workers could begin drawing comb (making honeycomb cells) for more honey.

Checking on some of the other frames, Capraro was surprised to find some capped and uncapped brood (cells with developing bees inside) on a honey frame. Shiny, white curled larvae were visible in the open cells. This is the second stage of four stages of metamorphosis and is the feeding stage. Nurse bees, which are only a few days old themselves feed the larvae pollen brought in by worker bees. The four stages of metamorphosis are egg, larva, pupa and adult.  It takes about 21 days for worker bees to reach adulthood. It is slightly shorter for queens and slightly longer for drones, the only male bees

A drone’s sole purpose is to mate with a queen, something he can only do once as the queen keeps his mating organ and brings it back to the hive. Bees are very organized and typically keep the nurseries in separate supers from the honey, according to Capraro. When the colony grows rapidly, the queen will lay where she can.  Doing regular hive checks lets beekeepers know when they need to add more supers to allow the colony to increase. Capraro decided she would put in a queen excluder, a grid that allows workers to pass but restricts the queen and drones from entering the honey frames, on her next hive-check.

Laura Sullivan’s hives are thriving as well this summer.

“I think the hives are still doing great,” said Sullivan. “I would like to add new supers soon on all of them. August can be a lean honey month, and they can start eating their stores. I have to check on them soon. We seem to be having a great year, and if all goes well, I expect between 120 and 150 lbs. of honey from three hives. My best year was 80 lbs. from two hives.”