Be A Backyard Beekeeper!

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We were pulling into the shop's parking lot as the "new" swarm took to the air. The bees flew from tree to tree, searching for a fitting spot, and finally settled on a limb that protruded from a nearby hedgerow. I set a garbage can under the churning mass of insect life, placed my hive atop the can, gritted my teeth, and—following my helper's directions—shook the bee-covered branch down hard.

The insects dropped—still clustered—into my hive. I slid the frame (a support which would later hold honeycombs) into place, put on the lid, and the swarm was mine! From there it was simply a matter of waiting until the evening of the following day (to allow the bees to get used to their new house and to be sure that they'd all be back from their daytime explorations), nailing a strip of board over the hive's entrance, and carrying my prize home.

GETTIN' DOWN TO BEES-NESS

Since I captured my swarm in mid-June, I suspected that it would take the rest of the summer for the hive to build up to its full strength of some 50,000 workers. Even my "bee teachers" predicted that—if I were lucky—I would only get about 25 pounds of surplus honey during the first season. By the time the November rains began, however, the city bees had astonished all of us by providing me with 50 pounds of the delicious ambrosia ... over and above their winter's food supply that I left in the hive for them.

The next pollen season—urged on by unusually warm weather—began early ... and I had already emptied two 25-pound "supers" (extra frames that provide storage space for surplus honey) by early April. However, my hive was also growing overcrowded, and I hurried to order additional supers from Sears, Roebuck and Company (a good source of most any apiary equipment).

Unfortunately, the new equipment arrived too late ... and a large number of my bees swarmed out of the area. That meant that the remaining nucleus of workers, drones, and queen would have to build the hive's population once again, and I assumed that there would be little honey production during the rest of that year. Those urban bees surprised me for a second time, however. By September they had reached full strength ... and I had stored away another 100 pounds of liquid gold!

HIVE GOT A SECRET!

Some folks will find it hard to believe that a beekeeper can be successful in the middle of a city as populous as San Francisco. I think I can explain why my apiary operation works, though, and why city bees are even more productive than their country cousins!

I keep my hive on top of a large crate in the back yard ... an area that is completely enclosed by a six-foot-high fence. Because of this setup, the bees are protected from overly curious children and animals (and vice versa). Furthermore, since the insects have to clear the fence when they fly out to forage, my honey-makers are a good way up in the air before they ever leave the yard. Not even my next-door neighbors knew about my hobby until I presented them with gifts of homegrown honey ... and one taste of the sweet product was enough to still any complaints that my beekeeping might ordinarily have prompted.

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