City Trees is a premier publication focused on urban + community forestry. In each issue, you’ll learn how to best manage the trees in your community and more!
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/510169
22 City Trees there is more than one right way to do things, and it's good to talk with a variety of people. Second, it's important to keep in mind your local context and think ahead about where the hives are going to best sited so that you don't have to disrupt them. Some people are uneasy about bees so you have to educate or stay away from those people when you site your hives. We've got four sites; two of them are on DDOT property, one is on property managed by DC Parks and Recreation, and one is on the green roof of a local youth and environmental nonprofit. They are protected by sim- ple fencing of fence panels and cinderblocks. We have four hives now but would like to go up to about nine. For me the experience of beekeeping in the District has taught me a lot and when I have a house with sufficient land I'm going to keep bees of my own, and I know the other arborists are thinking similarly. It has helped attune us to the natural world and especially to plant phenology. For the City being the size that it is, DC has a lot of little forest parcels. You hear about problems with bees in the agricultural areas but in places with good stands of trees like in the District, for the most part, I'm happy to say, the pollinators are doing pretty well. Our contri- bution might perhaps be helping along a hyper-localized strain of honeybees. —William Heist, Urban Forester, District Department of Transportation, Urban Forestry Administration, Washington DC Capturing honeybee hives can be an expensive adventure: suit, hive boxes, frames, smokers, brushes, cages, buckets, screen, bungee cord, and hours check- ing to make sure they are healthy and happy. I consider myself very lucky to harvest honey, and that is time-con- suming as well. There is a lot to know to keep bees successfully. Fortunately, there is lots of help in most states. Florida is awesome, from the state level to the cranky old guy, Oscar, who is teaching me and loves his bees. Very rarely do I find that a hive wants to be moved when they're not swarming; they defend the hive with their lives. I remove the comb a piece at a time and put it in frames, holding the comb in place with rubber bands. I'm careful not to cut into the brood comb, and I'm always looking for the queen, with queen catcher at hand (a small plastic cage that will allow the bees in but not allow the queen out.) If you catch her the job is much easier, as all the workers and drones will follow the queen's scent right into the new home. It takes a special person to be a beekeeper. It takes dedication and the ability to be relaxed and calm if stung. I have captured several hives, but only one has A beekeeper in Columbia, Missouri lifts a honeybee frame from a hive. • Photo by Brett O'Brien stayed, and I've had that one for a year, so now I can now call myself a beekeeper. Now I am comfortable capturing bee hives that would otherwise be sprayed with chemicals and killed. They may not always stay with me but rather escape to another beautiful place of their choosing. I may not be the best at beekeeping, but I hope there are more bees alive today than yester- day because of the things I do. —Bob Brennan, Consultant and Arborist, Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden, Coral Gables, Florida