The Town of Huntsville has some sweet new tenants: bees

Town Hall was abuzz with activity this morning when beekeeper Craig Nakamoto introduced two colonies of bees to their new home: the rooftop of the Algonquin Theatre.

It’s part of a project that Nakamoto proposed to Council last year to promote education about honey bees and pollinators, and how important they are for agriculture.

First, Nakamoto installed man-made hives on the roof – they each look like a wooden box and within the box will hang ten frames where the bees will build their combs. Then, he brought the colonies to the hives.

In Canada, he explained, a colony of bees arrives ready to go, already established in four frames transported in a plastic box. “They already have bees and combs and honey and eggs. There’s a queen and worker bees. As soon as you put the frames in the hive, the bees are working.”

Those four frames are put into the hive with six empty ones which the bees will then start building out.

Four frames doesn’t sound like much, but they hold three pounds of bees. That’s approximately 10,000 of them, and the colony will grow to between 50,000 to 60,000 at its peak in the summer.

(Above left) The first hive on the roof of the Algonquin Theatre; (above right) Ten frames, where the bees will build their combs, hang inside the hive. (Photos: Rebecca Francis)

Nakamoto will keep a close eye on them for the first few weeks, followed by quick inspections every two weeks. He’ll be looking to make sure the queen is still there and that there’s no sign of any parasites or diseases. And from May through July, moreso next year than this, he’ll be watching to be sure the bees aren’t getting ready to swarm.

“Everyone freaks out when they hear the word swarm because they imagine this swarm of bees attacking you, but that’s Africanized bees and we don’t have any of those up here,” explains Nakamoto.

Here, bees swarm when there are too many in the hive and they need to make room. Half the bees – that’s up to 30,000 of them – will all leave the hive at once, fly to the nearest tree branch and sit there while scouts go in search of a new home.

“As beekeepers, we don’t like that to happen because we lose half our bees. If they just go in the forest and find a new home, that’s great, we’ve got some more feral bees. But we try to avoid that by making sure they have lots of room. A healthy hive even if they have enough room is going to want to swarm, that’s just natural – it’s how the colonies reproduce.”

When beekeepers notice that happening, they’ll split the hive themselves to make two colonies from one. Because there will only be two hives at Town Hall for now, Nakamoto will take bees ready to swarm to one of his own beeyards if needed.

In late August, Nakamoto will remove the frames and take them in to a local school where the students can extract the honey, bottle it, and sell it as a fundraiser. “I’ll go to a different school every year and give everyone the chance to try it out and raise some money for whatever cause they want to put it toward.”

Craig Nakamoto introduced two colonies of bees to their new homes on the roof of the Algonquin Theatre this morning, May 27 (Photos: Rebecca Francis)

The hives will remain on the roof year round and aren’t inspected in the winter. “You don’t have to go in at all. You just close them up and leave them alone until it warms up again.” And hope that the bees survive.

Close to 40 per cent of the hives in Ontario didn’t make it through the winter in 2015 (numbers for 2016 aren’t yet available), says Nakamoto, but bees locally fared much better. “I know in the Muskoka/Parry Sound Beekeepers Association, most people got almost all of their hives through this winter. Sometimes they have no food left and you have to feed them, but I don’t know anyone that had to do that this winter… We have a lot of native bees in Huntsville and they seem to be doing really well, too.”

But you don’t have to be a beekeeper to help the bees out. Nakamoto says there are three things you can do to help them thrive.

First, try to avoid buying flowering plants treated with systemic pesticides. “Those are pesticides applied to the seed and as the plant grows it’s everywhere in the plant – it’s in the roots, the leaves, the flowers, the pollen, it’s everywhere and there’s nothing you can do about it.” Read labels and ask questions of the nursery or garden centre staff. They may not know and the plant may not be labelled, but it’s worth asking.

Second, plant flowers that blossom early in the spring or late in the fall. “That’s the hardest time for the bees and that’s probably what would help the most.”

And, finally, resist the urge to kill them.

Honey bees don’t typically sting people – the only time they really sting something is if it’s attacking their hive. If a bee is on your flowers, it won’t sting you. If you grab it, it probably will but if you just brush it away, it won’t sting you.

If you think you’ve been stung by a bee, says Nakamoto, it’s more likely that is was a wasp or a hornet. To tell the difference, look for the hair. “If it has fuzz on its head, it’s a bee.”

So watch those bees in wonder this summer – perhaps one of them will be ferrying pollen back to Town Hall to make a sweet treat for students this fall.

For more information on beekeeping, visit the Ontario Beekeepers Association. The Muskoka/Parry Sound Beekeepers Association also welcomes people to attend their local beekeepers’ meetings where you’ll find a lot of very experienced beekeepers who love to answer questions. They meet monthly during the season in Raymond. Contact association president Cathy Crowder at [email protected].

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