At Services Plus, Inc., We Have an Employee Led Apiary!

We have an employee led apiary at Services Plus – we’re beekeepers!  The idea started four years ago when a couple of employees showed interest in keeping bees at the back end of the property.  We do it for enjoyment – and we’ve been able to give a gift of honey to employees and customers during years when the hives produce extra.  Along with being a hobby, it has become part of our sustainability effort, helping pollinate flowers and food in our area.  Did you know that one out of three bites of food require or benefit from pollination?

We currently have four colonies in various states of development.  Three of the four made it through the winter and have started building population very quickly in the last few months.  One of the things beekeepers watch is to ensure that the colonies have enough space to grow, especially in the spring.  If they don’t, the bees will make their own space, by sending out about half of the hive including the queen to find a new home, something called swarming. 

Half of the hive will exit the hive and find a new home, leaving behind a developing new queen that will grow the hive.  The bees that leave will cling to a tree or other surface after leaving the original hive, until scout bees identify a new home.  The swarm will eventually find a log or a tree or some other acceptable place to live.  We have a swarm trap that could lure a swarm, which would enable us to keep the bees and add a colony to our apiary.  Some people are afraid of swarms, but while intimidating, they are actually fairly docile because they aren’t defending a hive.  Call us if you see one – we’d love to collect it!

We manage the colony space by adding boxes to the hive to give the bees a place to deposit nectar that will become honey.  This is why you may see a stack of white boxes growing on hives you drive by.  The added boxes increase the space, which decreases the desire to swarm and also gives a place for the bees to story their nectar.  Keeping up with the spring bee expansion is the top challenge for beekeepers this time of year.  As the flowers start to bloom and the hive population expands, they start bringing in a lot of nectar quickly.  The bees deposit the nectar into cells in their hive and work together by fanning their wings to dry the nectar down to 19% water, when they form a wax cap over the cell, becoming honey.  How do the bees know when the nectar reaches the right water content…nobody knows!  Honey will ferment if it is a higher moisture content, which is the premise for making mead.  Did you know that honey rarely spoils and can last indefinitely?  Scientists have found edible honey in Egyptian pyramids. 

We may choose to take some of the honey for our customers and employees.  This usually occurs in August after the major nectar flows are finished.  While the honey produced is so good, our primary goal is that the hives have enough stored honey so that they can eat it all winter.  If the hives don’t have enough honey, they will starve.  Our primary concern is the sustainability of the hives, and there have been years when we’ve left all of the honey in the hives for the bees. 

We hope you’ve enjoyed this short description of what is going on right now in our apiary.  If you’re ever in the area and would like a tour of our hives, let us know – we’ll have some extra bee veils for you!