by Nichol Piniak
As a fitting phrase for the broad realm of keeping bees, the title of this article has been borrowed with permission from a wise man, who lives right here in Calgary. There are many kind people who want to partake in the making of a better planet and, perhaps, provide a learning opportunity for their children. My goal is to use some of my experiences, and some wisdom from individuals such as Ron Miksha, the aforementioned wise man, to help you make an informed decision because it’s actually a bigger one than you might think, with many considerations. I’d like to start with the matter of economics.
People have many reasons for taking the plunge, but ultimately you will find yourself surprised by the cost of a single bee colony. By the time you buy your bees, take some courses, and acquire the required tools, you will have a substantial investment. There are thrifty ways to get started but, unless you have a particular set of skills and are fortunate enough to have contacts that might be able to assist you in acquiring bees, you will still find yourself spending a lot of money; it’s unavoidable. You might reason that the honeybees will pay for their own upkeep with honey and other hive bi-products; however, this expectation should be considered in the context of some very important challenges. In 2020, Ron did a survey of 300 Calgary beekeepers. Approximately 20% responded and 75% of respondents stated that economics was a motivating factor (making honey for the family or selling it to earn cash) in their decision to keep bees. Over 50% of this group also made their choice based on a desire to help flowers, bees, and the environment, by keeping honeybees.
Regardless of why, climate change is real and is truly impacting the city and rural areas. It will take time to adapt, but in the meantime, not only are farmers struggling from the effects, but the increased dryness and lack of moisture is a profound problem. You might see flowers on plants, but this does not mean those flowers are briming with nectar, which is what bees eat and store to become honey. Nectar must be abundant to support a single honeybee colony. Honeybees are a super organism that will fight for survival, even between colonies, and there are a surprising number of beekeepers in every district. A single hive will have between 40,000 to 80,000 bees and most hobby beekeepers have multiple hives. When I was keeping bees, I witnessed many colonies become stressed from the hot weather which, in turn, causes the flowers to produce little to no nectar. I would watch the colony work in vain and then resort to robbing nearby hives that were weaker, hoping to survive winter.
An Alberta winter is a long period, and the bees need food from the last flowers of fall to the first ones in spring. If the flowers are dry or not present, beekeepers will often replace nectar with a blend of sugar and water. This is costly and not an adequate nutritional replacement for floral nectar – it’s supposed to be used as a temporary and emergency supplement for bees when their natural source of nectar is unavailable. If an eager beekeeper is out of pocket and eyeing their bees to “earn their keep,” they may decide that removing a portion of honey is a way to recover some money, but there are two fundamental problems. It is easy to remove more resources than a colony can afford. The “solution” to this is feeding syrup is a 1:1 blend of sugar and water. However, a large portion of what the bees store on this substitute is just stored sugar water, not the honey we know and love and it does not provide the bees with the nutritional value they need to survive a harsh winter and/or prolonged spring. Feeding syrup during climate events or to compensate for removing too much honey leads to a vicious cycle of costs and false expectations – weigh it all carefully before proceeding.
My last words are this, please spare a thought for our native bees and other pollinators. When you see the phrase “save the bees,” these are the bees that are truly at risk due to climate change. They are the ones that we rely on that are native to our region; we need them. If honeybees, which require considerable time, money, and manpower, are permitted to consume what nectar is available within the confines of the urban environment, then what are we leaving for the bumblebees and other native pollinators?
