With many of us focused on our own yards during the pandemic, we asked Travis Killian, manager of customer service and operations with Information Technology Services, to put on his beekeeper’s hat to share bee-friendly advice.
Travis and his wife Kendell, who live in Magrath, started Killian Honey about six years ago. Kendell’s interest started when she was growing up in Saskatchewan. A neighbour kept bees, and “they smelled so good!” she recalls. Together, the Killians grew from “newbees” to having “a million minions.”
Kendell is interested in the livestock management; Travis says he enjoys creating the wooden brood boxes and working with specialized equipment needed to separate the wax from that golden honey.
Aside from the sweet end product, bees are vital to the food chain. Fruit, vegetables including squash and cucumber, and alfalfa – a main crop to feed our cattle – all need to be pollinated. Other insects serve as pollinators, but none are as productive as bees. Here are Travis and Kendell’s 1-2-3 basics of bees.
ONE cool thing about bees:
In its lifetime, a single honeybee will make only about 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey. A single pound of honey requires about 550 worker bees collecting nectar from two million flowers.
TWO things to avoid:
• Pesticides. Even if you’re targeting a different pest, bees may pay the price.
• Mistaking bees for wasps. What’s the difference? Wasps are likely to be more aggressive and are a brighter yellow than the bee. Bees tend to be a browner shade of yellow and are unlikely to sting unless they’ve been agitated. Both will swarm when looking for a new place to call home. When bees swarm, they’re docile and the Killians would be happy to collect them and provide them a box to live in. Sometimes, people see these massing insects, think they’re wasps and kill them with pesticide. Look carefully and be sure they’re not bees before doing something drastic.
THREE things to do to “bee ready” for a healthy bee environment:
• Plan your garden so something is always in bloom spring through fall to give a constant food source.
• Provide water. Bees work hard collecting nectar in one stomach and water in another. Don’t worry if a bee lands near your kiddie pool or hot tub. It’s just getting a drink. Consider providing a bird bath, which is good for bees, too.
• Give bees some of their favourite flowers like asters, poppies, sunflowers, sweet alyssum, zinnia, clematis, crocus, dahlia, geranium, bee balm (monarda) or sedum. They also like herbs like cat mint, lavender, mint, oregano, rosemary, sage, thyme and salvia. The Killians say clover and alfalfa produce the best honey.