A few weeks ago Matt and I bought bees, and we are now official beekeepers. I was hesitant to tell a lot of people at first because I was nervous that we would somehow kill the bees, there would be a problem with the queen, or they would swarm. These are all valid concerns, but so far our hive seems to be doing well (knock on wood).


I’m not entirely sure what it says about Matt and me that our first pet as a couple is a hive of bees, but the little pollen collectors have won my heart. They also seem to be considerably less work than many pets. We became interested in keeping bees because of the colony collapse disorder that was rampant over the past couple of years. Bees are vital to our existence and pollinate much of the food we eat, so we thought we might be able to help the bees in a small way.

The more I read and observe the bees, the more impressed I am. Here are just a few interesting bee factoids:


• The female bees do all the work
• A scout bee goes out to find where an abundance of pollen is (this can be miles away from the hive). Upon returning the bee dances to give the other bees directions to the same spot. The dance is given in relation to the sun and the bee accounts for the directional change of the sun overtime.
• There are about 10,000 bees in a hive
• They should be able to survive a CT winter
• To help keep mites off of them, you can sprinkle powdered sugar on the bees