Bees are the most welcome "tenants"

A bee is probably not the most desirable pet, and many people prefer puppies, kittens, cats or even rabbits to bees. After all, you can't pet a bee, it won't wink at you when you're lying on your knees and look lovingly into your eyes, it won't come to greet you when you get home from work, it won't hiss at you when you knock on your door. Worse still, it will fly around obsessively, or even sting. Wicked, you might say. That's how little we moderns know about honeycreepers. However, there are people who value bees more than any other animal. After all, our ancestors used to say, out of respect for this creature, that bees, unlike all animals, die. Perhaps what you are about to read will also encourage you to look at this remarkable insect in a different light, to 'rent' some space and help beekeepers to diversify and diversify their honey harvest.

Bees to the fields - harvest to the home               

Bees are crucial to the ecosystem. Along with other insects, they are responsible for pollinating fruit trees, grasses, shrubs, flowers, vegetables and other plants. Bees are responsible for about 85 percent of all plants' ability to bear fruit and reproduce. Not bad for such a little thing, right? And while most of us are chasing these insects as far away as possible, gardeners and other farmers are happy to invite the little helpers to visit their fields and gardens. A strong bee colony can increase yields by up to 30% - sounds a bit utopian. To attract bees to your fields, you can be inventive and shout "Honeyhoney", try to steal honey from the bees' nest and run towards your fields, or do something simpler - make a deal with local beekeepers to bring the bees' home "quarter" to your fields for the duration of the plants' bloom. This harmonious symbiosis between bees and humans is also of great benefit to the bees - what could be better than fields full of nectar as soon as they fly out the door?

Advantages of traveller bees

Spring and summer are the bees' working season. Beekeepers want to get more harvests, i.e. a steady honey harvest, and send bees on "missions" to different fields every 2-3 weeks, which is roughly the time of year when the plants flower. Although you can't tell the bees which plant to land on, changing the location of the hives and placing them in different fields can produce varietal honey. However hard-working the honey bees are, they first settle in the nearest fields, so if you place the hive near a buckwheat field you will get buckwheat honey, if you place the hive in an undergrowth you will get forest plant honey. If you can't get honey of any kind, at least most of the nectar will come from the plants around you, and their flavour and nutritional properties will dominate your honey.

Is it necessary to change the location of the hives in order to have honey? Absolutely not. Bees will bring nectar from fields several kilometres away. Enough to make tea. However, don't you want to live closer to where you work? Bees are no exception. The closer you are to the honey fields, the more energy and time the bees can spend on nectar rather than travelling to fertile meadows. The best way to find honey fields is to consult with local farmers and agree on a temporary relocation of the tenants. In fact, bees "earn their keep" and only live up to six weeks in their lifetime, so why not spare them just one day of life?

Bee foraging

Bees like to move around. Especially with the whole house. You really want to be careful and respectful when you move bees, as the hive is home to tens of thousands of whimsical bees that no one would want to anger. Moreover, carelessness can cost the lives of some of the bees or even the queen. So, before evicting the worker bees for a week or more of honey, you need to prepare thoroughly and meticulously. Preferably on the eve. Before evicting the bees, we dig up the old crop and make sure they have room for new honey reserves by putting up new empty honey supers. Since bees like comfort, we "air condition" them by fitting breathing grilles at the top of the hive for their safety and our own, strap the hive down and wait for nightfall.

We move the bees before dawn, because we want all members of the colony to be in the hive. To prevent the worker bees from wandering around the car during the journey and getting to know their "movers" better, we seal the hives before we put them in the vehicle. We also complete the second stage of 'conditioning' by spraying the bees with water. The bees are used to being both the vehicle and the pilot, so your driving skills may be stressful for them. In addition, when the hive is so congested, the bees can quickly overheat, increasing the chances of wax melting and killing part of the colony. Breathing grilles and water spray will protect the bees as well as keep them hydrated - all the comforts of home. When properly prepared, we place the hives in the vehicle so that the frames of the hive are perpendicular to the axis of the vehicle, thus protecting the bees from being crushed, and finally, we press the gas pedal. Not all the way to the bottom. Gradually.

  Bees are good trackers. To comfortably relocate them so that they do not look back, you will need to travel at least 4 km. Up to 25 colonies are recommended for the new location. When building hives, it is important to remember that bees, like all animals, live and work according to the laws of nature. The feng-shui experts at the bee house, the Bee Brothers, say that it is best to face the hive towards the east, so that the bees wake up with the first rays of the sun, which will not only improve their mood, but also their honey production. Finally, it is important to take care of anyone who might wander into the new bee area by putting an information sign with the contact details of the apiary at the entrance to the bees' premises and informing the State Food and Veterinary Office of the location of the hives.

If you hesitate for a moment and think about bees the next time you choose the best pet for yourself, we will be very happy. If from now on you respectfully escort a bee out of the room when it flies in, understanding its difficult mission, we will be delighted. And if you already have another hive of these beauties, we hope that you will try our advice and that your bees will wake up every morning to nectar-filled fields where they will patiently fly from one plant to the next without realising how grateful they are for everything they see around them. May the bees become the most welcome "tenants" in every corner of the earth and may they reward us with bountiful harvests, delicious Honey, good health and peace in your heart.