It’s an odd situation. Beekeepers, by their very name, “keep” their bees alive and productive. But by becoming so familiar with their bees, and their biology, beekeepers also become very aware of how bees can be killed.
I have never known anyone who actually enjoyed the job of killing bees. There has never been a moment when I have been with someone who abruptly said, “Hey! Let’s go find some bees and kill them!” Killing bees is always dirty business. In a way, it’s funny. Beekeepers work diligently NOT to kill bees … “Give adequate ventilation” … or “Water those packages down” or … “Don’t leave them closed up too long” … and yet, all too often, something goes wrong and bees die.
A Deadly Mistake
I’ve told this story before, but it applies in this instance. Many years ago, while I was still quite new to Ohio, I was asked by the Ohio State Beekeepers Association to bring three beehives to the fall state meeting for an open-hive demonstration. The early November morning of the meeting was cold, and there was frost all over. I selected three powerful two-story colonies. Since the trip to the meeting site was fairly short — around 45 minutes — rather than disturb the bees by pounding on entrance-closing devices or fitting folded screen wire into the entrances, I simply pulled up tufts of frozen grass and weeds and jammed the entrances closed.
As I loaded the three grass-stuffed colonies onto an open trailer, I worried about the colonies becoming too cold on the short trip, But I reassured myself that the trip was not that long, and away I went with three hives in tow. I had a few problems finding the exact place for the event, but I did find it in short order. All told, the trip took about an hour. I was to be there just in time for a pre-lunch “Open Hive” demonstration, and in fact, I was. When I arrived, I immediately sat the hives off — thinking to myself how smoothly this had all gone. No bees flying, no hive confusion — all was at peace.
Straightaway, I snatched the grass from the opening of the first colony expecting to see a few bees fly out. Nothing. The day was warming nicely, and the sky was blue. Without much thought, I opened the remaining two colonies — each time getting no bee flight. This was puzzling. Were they still that tightly clustered? Expecting defensive bees to fly out, I gingerly opened one of the colonies — just a bit at first. Then more, to the point of removing both the outer cover and the inner cover …
