PORTLAND, Maine — The earliest records of humans eating honey are believed to date back to 40,000 years ago, according to Smithsonian Magazine.
Fast forward several millennia to a quiet neighborhood in Portland, and you'll find master beekeeper Erin MacGregor-Forbes getting out the smoke and bee veils to show Gardening with Gutner what beekeeping is all about.
“People usually start with taking a bee school in the winter," MacGregor-Forbes said. "By the next spring, they’re usually running their own colony. It’s a great hobby that anyone can do."
MacGregor-Forbes began by lighting pine needles on fire in a canister called a smoker. She explained that smoke masks the ability of the bees to communicate alarm among the hive. The smoke calms the bees so the beekeeper can work on the hive. Bees have 60 times the power of smell than dogs, the master beekeeper stated. She spread the smoke all over Todd Gutner to protect him and then gave him the iconic bee veil to shield his head and face.
Next, MacGregor-Forbes unstacked the boxes that make up the tall hives. After opening one, she showed Gutner baby bees pupating and honey on one of the frames that sit in the hive. She could tell from the presence of the larvae that a queen bee was present.
“They can live up to four years. She’s going in these individual cells, and she sticks her abdomen in and lays an egg,” the master beekeeper informed. “She can lay her body weight in eggs in a day.”
Bees change their jobs in the hive by their age, MacGregor Forbes explained. The youngest bees are nurses. As they age, they start doing housekeeping jobs like rearranging and putting nectar in different places. The older bees forage and protect.
“Honey isn’t actually produced by the bees,” the master beekeeper revealed. “Honey is produced by the plant because the plants are the ones that make the nectar. The bees just carry it home and evaporate the water off. So, the flavor, color, and consistency of honey is 100 percent determined by the plants.”
The honey harvest happens around the Fourth of July and then again around Labor Day, MacGregor-Forbes shared. Gutner tried some of the honey right from the frame and said it was “so good!”
No one on the crew of Gardening with Gutner was stung during the taping, even though everyone just wore a veil and short-sleeved shirts. However, MacGregor-Forbes did get stung once.
To learn more about beekeeping or to find a bee school, click here.
