What's New at Beans and Greens!

Gilford Old Home Day Parade: Andy and Martina will be this years Grand Marshalls!

Breakfast is now being served!!! Visit the new breakfast page for more info

Photos: The swarm of bees that has collected in the tee-pee at Beans & Greens Farmstand in Gilford is collected for relocation to a new hive by apiarist John Larsen.
 
It's a great growing season for just about anything, and the Observation Beehive at Beans & Greens Farmstand in Gilford has been no exception!  Just a few days ago, owner Martina Howe noticed that the hive was literally packed with busy bees and expressed her concern that they would "swarm".  This is nature's way of splitting a colony and providing enough bees of different classes to set up a new hive that will survive and proliferate, but it usually occurs earlier in the summer - not in August!  Several factors can contribute to a hive swarming in a season like this.  If there is not enough room the brood colony will become overcrowded and the queen will feel uncomfortable. This results in an unbalanced population that can instigate the swarming process. An overcrowded hive can also become rather hard to ventilate when it is as hot as this summer has been.  When there is enough space in the hive the bees will fan the hive to control the temperature and ventilate it.  Once the swarming process starts,  the bees will gorge themselves on honey as it could take up to a week to find a suitable location for the new hive.
At Beans & Greens the bees started to swarm midday Tuesday.  They swirled around the exit to the observation hive in ever increasing numbers until queen joined the swarm. Then, midafternoon, the swarm flew away in a dark, deeply buzzing cloud just a short distance away to the tee-pee in the front yard where they were expected to settle for just a short time before moving on.  On Wednesday morning the swarm was still hanging onto the tee-pee.  Apparently the scouts were unable to locate a suitable location to move to.   A new home can be a hollow tree or the eaves or roof of a nearby house.  Since the bees seemed quite content, Howe called in John Larsen,  a local apiarist so he could gather the swarm and re-hive them.
In the photo you can see Larsen using a vacuum system to "suck" the bees into a box that he will use to transport them to their new home at his apiary in Bristol.  The swarming bees are full of honey and relatively lethargic, so not of much danger to the apiarist as he gathers them.  Beans & Greens has had their observation hive swarm only a handful of times in the many years they have had it.  Each time has been exciting for the customers and an educational moment for anyone around!  For the bees left in the Observation Hive life will be cooler and roomier with plenty of brood still hatching and a new queen to keep them on the job.

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