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I love the sight of a group of children toddling along unafraid in beesuits, peppering me with questions about the magic of beekeeping. Kids ask things that I have no idea how to answer like,“ what do bees do in a wildfire?” Kids also have a surprising amount of patience and are much better than I am at queen spotting. Our queens have names like“ Queen BEEatrice,”“ Queen Buttercup,” and“ Queen BEEyonce.”
Today we have high hopes for our newest colony,“ Queen Dr. Kate”. She is named for Dr. Kate Kirksey because she was discovered living in a wall of the Kirksey barn. Last month, I jumped at the chance to collect these wild honey bees as they are often
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Top: Alex Markoff handles the suprisingly gentle bees; above: Niki leads a group of children on a visit to the Calleva Apiary. |
in full body beesuits. We then cut out the siding to expose the bees and comb, carefully removed the comb, cut it to fit foundationless frames and held it in with wire.
Alex kept shouting“ these bees are so gentle!” as he scooped up handfuls of bees and placed them in the hive. We left the newly established hive at Kate’ s for a couple days to ensure all bees would make the move. Then late one night we covered the hive in mesh and drove it over to the Calleva Apiary where they hopefully will continue to thrive.
Calleva honey is sold at the Calleva Farm Store in downtown Poolesville. Guests at Pizza Night, many outdoor ed programs, and farm to table dinners, all get to enjoy a taste of our delicious treasure. Our honey is produced not just by the bees and harvested by me but also by the many hands of Calleva.
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stronger and immune to some of the pests and pathogens that trouble some hives. I texted Dan Savino, one of the wise and more experienced beekeepers in Upper Montgomery County. He gave me what appeared to be simple instructions on how to perform a“ cut out.” He ended with the warning:“ Cut outs can be a lot of work!” With this in mind, I casually asked Alex, my somewhat allergic to bee stings husband, if he could help as |
the bees were high up at the joint of the wall and a supporting beam.
I showed Alex an Instagram video of what I thought we would be doing. And we decided we should recruit more help. Who better to think like a bee than Marlon, one of the hardest workers we know? The Instagram video showed a young woman in shorts and a tank top with only safety glasses for protection, but I immediately decked those boys out
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Niki Markoff keeps the bees at the Calleva Farm on Martinsburg Road. She has been an ardent environmentalist since her childhood in Darnestown, where she spent as much time as possible in the woods and fields, barefoot, dirty and often covered in poison ivy. In addition to beekeeping, she enjoys boating and skiing, brushing Calleva’ s herd of Heritage Shorthorn cattle and hiking with her dogs. When she isn’ t exhausted from long days on the farm, she likes to read from the large stack of books next to her bed. |
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