Green Corner

In May of 2016, Beekeeping Club established Exeter’s first on-campus beehive. It is located across the bridge to the stadium, right in between the dog park and the community garden. While we originally had a colony of “Italian” bees (from Maine), part of that colony abandoned the hive this summer, so we blended them with a new colony of “Carniolan” bees.

One of the characteristics of our new breed of bees, the Carniolan, is that they are well adapted to surviving the winter. They cut down to a very small winter bee population, and form a very tight “cluster” around the queen to keep her warm. All honeybees utilize this cluster formation to keep the queen bee at about 95 degrees, but cluster size is important, because fewer winter bees means the hive is less likely to run out of food storage before the winter is over. A colony of bees needs about 40 pounds of honey during the winter months in southern states, but because extra energy is required to stay warm during cold winters, New England bees need 60-80 pounds of honey for winter. Our bees seem to have enough honey to survive this winter, but sometimes beekeepers put sheets of pollen or hard candy in the hive as emergency food stores for their bees.

During the winter, protecting the bees from wind is paramount, so we have placed hay bales on three sides of the hive. We also wrapped the hive in a Bee Cozy, which is a hive wrap developed by beekeepers in Canada to help bees stay warm during the winter. The polypropylene wrap is insulated with environmentally friendly fiberglass, and is reusable for many years. It is a relatively new product, and this is the first time any of us have used it, so we look forward to seeing its effects on our colony in the spring.

Beekeeping Club will meet infrequently throughout winter term, but as soon as pollen becomes available in the early spring, the number of bees in our hive will explode from their wintering population of about 20,000 bees to a summertime population of up to 60,000 bees. At that time, Beekeeping Club will resume our weekly hive inspections. We usually look to make sure that the bees are producing enough honey to sustain themselves, that there aren’t too many drone bees and that the queen is laying brood in an even pattern and other indicators of hive health. Although some knowledge of beekeeping would be helpful at these hive inspections, anyone is welcome to join us. The inspections usually take place on Wednesday afternoons or Saturdays. We have several veils and pairs of gloves for anyone who wants to be physically involved in the inspections, but anyone can join us just to watch as well. If you would like to know more about the campus beehive, join us on an inspection or have other questions, email oliponis@exeter.edu.