|
| Beekeeping | |
It’s swarm season – a relentless and exhilarating time of year. Have you ever experienced a honeybee swarm? I didn’t until I became a beekeeper. Now they’re a joyful (and exasperating) part of my spring routine. Joyful because they’re beautiful to watch. And exasperating because they never check in with me about my schedule before arriving. To witness a honeybee swarm is to witness an exodus. The first thing you notice is an elevated buzz as thousands of bees exit the hive. They fly en masse – a living cloud – before forming a cluster around the queen. I like watching the cluster form. The queen lands on a twig or a branch or a wall (or sometimes even the ground). The bee cloud collapses around her becoming a dense mass of bees. There’s something alchemical about the process. Like watching a liquid go to gas and back to liquid again. | |
