Facing Rain, November, a Flooding Valley

In the midst of November with hives- for the 27th time.

This is the second year of COVID, and I can't say for sure if my attitude- normally pretty passionate about beekeeping has been affected by it, or it's just getting tired with mites. This past year saw me spending easily less than a third, more more, than what I've spent with my hives consistently for the past 10 years.

And to show for it- I'm going into winter with hives less secure, likely more mite ridden, and just not babied as they should be. Not that babying them every helped much, as it's not clear even now, 20 years plus into Varroa, what the right way to deal with them is. Kill them, obviously. And often. Don't think I haven't tried.

Varroa seems to me to be like the bad thought one seeks to not think about, and that springs up anyway. You can keep your head in the sand about it, make remarks (like I have, to myself), that the bees seem to be doing well (no DWV signs for example), but not doing the necessary mite counts (in my experience, and I've done a ton, not that helpful), and just blithly hoping for the best. That's pretty been my past year. I don't talk to anyone about it, the beekeepers I once knew in Whatcom county have all disappeared and no longer communicate, and there is no one here, where I live, keeping bees. Well, that's not true- I just don't know them.

So- a third of the energy- and I extract a third of the honey. I extracted- quite late- and pulled off a shameful 35 or 40 gallons, from 15 to 20 producing hives (out of 25).  A friend (whom I've not met), with the same number of producing hives, extracted 150 gallons. Go figure.

Here is my favorite apiary- with I think 9 hives, down from 25. A bear fence this year- suddenly bears are a problem. Some hives at just a box or two- queens I hope to use in Spring (but low in stores).  A rare sunny day- and though I pulled off only a moderate amount in August- some are very light, so though it's late, mid November, I am feeding them very thick syrup. Heck, if they don't want it, they don't have to tak it- but they do.

A self portrait, not sure what I am doing, but such a great semi-warm day. This coming weekend, which apparently will be pouring rain, I'll go out and add the black cloth I've done each year. I think they like it. And since I have stacks of it, I might as well.

My friend Doug was a beekeeper- up in the hills beyond where I live- and he painted his two hives orange. Pretty cool. After a year or two all his hives were dead and so now, I think, he keeps goats, and he gave me his equipment. So it get's mixed up- I just do one color, white, in honor of all the old time beekeepers- like Johnny Cash wore black for all those in prison. So what if that's not quite the same.

The frequency of being told by strangers that they "want to keep bees?, or those asking for instruction- has in the past few years, diminished dramatically.  Every human endeavor get's it's day in the sun, as the media and the whims of people trying to live "authentic" lives focuses one one thing, abandons it, and finds another.  Beekeeping had, I think, a brief culturally niche, even Beyonce did it ! (do I have that right?), and now the eye has moved on- as it should. 

In Spring- say March- I'll assess. I figure on some losses this year (I have 150 supers stacked up empty that echo that trend), but I'll have to decide if this is worth putting more years into, having another 10 or 20 max to go. That's not a lot of time. My mentor, diagnosed with cancer, and facing the depressing pressure of Varroa and cashed it all in. Wrote it off. 

I hope not to do that- to find some way to keep Varroa at bay- and whatever is next- and be a beekeeper of (say) 10 strong hives. Healthy ones.  And then hand them off to someone who cares about such things.

I am pretty sure that's not how it will turn out- but it's more or less my plan.