I have been trying to cultivate a new hobby, but it has been going slowly. Last spring I completed a course in basic bee keeping and have been certified by the Washington State Department of Agriculture as a beginning beekeeper. I do not yet have any colonies of bees, having decided I wanted to take it slowly and gain a bit more experience before becoming responsible for colonies. My plan was to participate in our local bee club, volunteer at our club apiary, and gain some more hands on experience. Then, in the spring of 2023, I plan to start with a couple of hives, which will be located on our son’s farm, where there is plenty of room and a fruit orchard. It is a good location for the hives.

I’ve been interested in keeping bees for many years and have had a couple of close friends who were bee keepers. I have not had a good place to keep hives in the past, but now our son’s farm is just right. Being semi-retired should give me time for a new hobby as well.

The problem is that the Mount Baker Beekeepers Association holds almost all of its club activities on Wednesdays and Sundays. That’s where the “semi” in semi-retired gets in my way. I lead an adult forum on Wednesday evenings and have responsibilities on Sundays for my job as well. So far, I have not been able to make it to a single event of the bee club. That makes for a very slow learning curve. I may have to adjust my plans in terms of when I will get my first hives and bees.

One concern for local beekeepers is that there have been confirmed sightings of Asian giant hornets in our county. These hornets, native to temperate and tropical East Asia, South Asia, Mainland Southeast Asia, parts of Russia and the Far East, have appeared in Whatcom County. So far, local officials have been able to find and destroy several colonies of the hornets. One such colony was discovered just a few miles from us. The invasive insects could cause a great deal of damage to bee colonies. So far, local beekeepers have not experienced problems with the hornets, but special care is being taken to locate and deal with colonies. There is a hornet trap in our neighbor’s yard that is part of the agriculture department’s efforts, and we have seen others around the region.

A much bigger concern for local beekeepers is the presence of varroa mites. These tiny parasitic insects feed on the bees’ body fluid and spread viruses that cause the bees to grow deformed wings and lower the survival rate of bees during cold temperatures. Local beekeepers are trained to detect the presence of mites and to treat colonies with a special pesticide that kills the mites without harming the bees. The use of pesticides in bee colonies, however, is a risky business. In general bees are very susceptible to the use of pesticides. Over use of the chemicals used to treat mites can create adverse effects for the bees. Another concern is that overuse of pesticides could cause the mites to develop resistance. One of the reasons our son’s farm is a good location for bees is that the farm is organic and chemical pesticides are not used. Even in that location, however, we will have to be prepared to treat colonies for mites if we are going to keep bees.

Critical in the process of treating mites is timing. Local beekeepers wait until the end of summer to treat for mites, when the varroa populations are highest. They prefer to wait until after the honey is harvested to treat for mites. Although it is unlikely that the chemical used to treat the mites could get into the honey, it is a good practice to keep the two activities separate. Testing for mites, however, can be conducted even before honey harvesting and can guide plans for intervention.

Waiting too long can have devastating impacts on the colony. Last year our region experienced unusually warm weather in the spring and early summer, which led to an early pollinating season and strong expansion for bee colonies. However, the conditions also favored the expansion of varroa mites.

To our north, in Canada, beekeepers experienced the largest rate of colony loss in the last 20 years. Nearly half of Canada’s bee colonies didn’t survive the winter of 2021-2022. That means that raising queen bees for export is an important practice for beekeepers in our area. Bees imported from Australia and New Zealand, where the seasons are opposite of the northern hemisphere, are important to keeping the bee industry strong in Canada.

This year we had a slow spring and a later pollinating season. The harvest of honey is now underway and it is still a bit early to determine how serious the mite infestations will be in our county. However, my schedule, and the schedule of activities at the Mount Baker Beekeepers Association seem to be at odds and I have yet to get hands-on experience with testing for and treating mites, an important part of being a responsible beekeeper in our region. Like any other new hobby, I have a lot to learn. Time will tell whether or not I will have bees in my care next year.

So it is all a bit complex. I’m trying to keep myself informed and to keep up with news from the beekeeper’s association as well as general information from the department of agriculture. I’m making friends with some local beekeepers in hopes of furthering my education. A process that once appeared to me to be simple has turned out to be complex and challenging.

Retirement, however, is a good phase of life to accept new challenges and to learn new skills. I find that I don’t learn as quickly and that I need more reinforcement than was the case when I was younger. Nonetheless, I am capable of learning new information and developing new skills.

We’ll just have to wait and see how it goes with the bees.