‘New-bees’ buzz to Bee School for beekeeping basics

BLUE HILL, Maine (WABI) - Blue Hill Library was buzzing Saturday as the Tri-County Beekeepers Club hosted its annual Bee School, a program that has provided introductory beekeeping education since the 1980s.

“When the club first got started, we found that there was a need for beginner beekeepers to get just a little bit more knowledge base before they just dump the bees into a box and go,” explains board member John Cousins.

Divided into four two-hour classes, Bee School covers everything a novice beekeeper needs to know before tending a hive, including identifying the different bees that make up a colony, understanding apiary equipment and managing hives through the seasons.

Organizers say attendance shot up during COVID and has remained consistent ever since.

One attendee Saturday was Stonington resident Helena Melone, who says she has never kept bees but felt drawn to the hobby.

“I definitely eat a lot of honey! It’s my primary sweetener in my coffee or whatever. And also I get fall allergies. And so eating like late fall honey is a great way for me to build up my immune system against getting allergies,” describes Melone of her motivations in attending. “There’s a lot to learn, and I’m just more of a hands-on learner, so I’m really grateful for the time that people have spent teaching how to do this.”

Cousins says their pollination potential is just one appeal of beekeeping: “There’s also something kind of cool about this stingy insect. You hold up a frame of bees, and you’ve got eggs, larva, capped brood, honey, and the queen. You’ve got their whole universe in that one frame, and it’s kind of neat.”

Tri-County Beekeepers Club President Erich Bensheimer says that after 11 years of keeping bees, he has noticed that hives develop their own personalities. He compares beekeeping to caring for other livestock, like chickens.

“They’re all individual life forms, but they operate more as a unit, like the whole hive is an organism.” Bensheimer says of bee behavior. “It’s keeping you in touch with nature and other animals and taking care of a thing. And it’s not like a house cat or something like that, but it’s got that same sort of connection.”

Not only do the bees help keepers build connections to nature and the community, Cousins says they can even help deepen a connection to oneself: “You got to slow down. You just have to. And I think that’s one of the appeals. I can go out with my morning coffee and sit in the bee yard and just watch them coming and going. And it’s calming. It’s almost meditative.”

While Bee School is a great resource for beginner beekeepers, Cousins says there are more ways throughout the year to get involved.

The Tri-County Beekeepers Club meets monthly and hosts “Open Hive” events, where keepers can invite the club to inspect their apiary.