Richard unveils the bees, busy communicating in their hive.

How is it with all our human verbal skills we have so much less quality communication that the beloved honey bees? Learning about bees communication this week, I was struck by how great they are at communicating throughout the colony that may number from 20,000 to 60,000 individuals.

They take care of the colony, the queen, the environment and give selflessly to others. Their communication through out the colony is faultless. How many of us could say that about our small family units? The bees share with all the other workers about where to find the best nectar and pollen sources. They communicate that information through a bee dance that triangulates the exact location, even factoring in the movement of the sun. They also share a sample of the product they are so excited about. No selfishness here. In the pollen and nectar gathering they can mark the flowers as “used” so another bee does not have to waste their time. The bees even communicate with us in an auditory way. They emit a happy hum or if they have lost their queen they give off the “queenless roar” in discontent. These wonderful creatures have so much to teach us and I am blessed to be in their classroom.

Written by Christine Young

This project was funded by a grant from the Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program.

Richard’s long experience as an organic beekeeper and creator of a socially/environmentally responsible honey business, combined with Jenny’s intuitive nature and obvious passion for nurturing bees, made for a fascinating and informative first class.

The relationship between bees and humans is a long one, as a 6,000 year old cave painting in Spain attests. A thin ochre figure reaches for a round hive in a tree as bees swarm. The image made me smile… golden sweetness upon the tongue is worth the pain of getting stung!

I was amazed by the utter complexity of life within the beehive. The female workers, comprising 90% of the population, live from 3 to 6 weeks and display a very orderly division of labor. As soon as a worker bee emerges from her cell as a newly hatched adult, she begins cleaning cells of debris, graduates a few days later to covering larval cells with beeswax, and ends her nursery duties with brood tending. Having reached a certain level of maturity, she now attends the queen, then shortly changes jobs again to receive incoming nectar from her sisters. Subsequent chores include packing pollen, comb building, ventilating the hive to maintain an ideal temperature of 97 degrees, and guarding against invaders. Only after fulfilling her share of each of these tasks does she leave the hive for her first day of foraging! I can hear the children already: “You mean she can’t just choose her favorite job and do it forever?!” What a lesson in community sharing and responsibility!

Equally fascinating is the use of pheromones, or chemical scents the bees produce to communicate with one another. I was surprised to learn that a bee will leave a pheromone on a flower it has just visited to alert others that the nectar is all used up. As if by magic, the pheromone dissipates when the flower’s nectar supply returns! Indeed, there is much magic surrounding bees, which Richard and Jenny openly acknowledge – a magic that continually adds to the awe and joy of beekeeping.

Written by Monika Hennig

This project was funded by a grant from the Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program.

What are you looking for when you travel?

When I travel I am looking to connect with the people and the place in a deep and authentic way. Yes… I want to read books and improve upon my tan, but I also want to feel connected to something outside of my ordinary range of experience.

Andrea dancing with new friends at a kava party in Lawena, Taveuni, Fiji.

I just got back from a trip to Fiji and was deeply touched by the depth of my visitor experience. I stayed in a number of places that were owned and run by Fijians, and in some cases owned and run by the village. The connection between my visitor dollars and the good it did in the communities where I stayed was real and immediate. I never felt so good spending money! In exchange, I got to experience Fijian nature and culture in a real, authentic way.

Andrea (at left), Mary and Fijian friends in Sabeto, Viti Levu.

Given my interest in food self-sufficiency, I was always on the lookout for how people were growing and harvesting food. In summary- cassava and taro, everywhere! There was no formal “agri-tourism,” but every experience was an opportunity to sample native foods. On the outer islands, you don’t go to the food store for your food you go to the land and sea.

At one point I was sharing granola bars with some villagers. “Are these Hawaiian snacks?” they asked. “Well…not exactly, I bought them at Costco.” And then I found myself having to explain what Costco was to the people who brought me a dinner the night before that consisted entirely of foods they grew or harvested from the ocean on that day.

Agriculture in Hawaii is second only to tourism in terms of an economic driver- and some farms have married the two together creating “agri-tourism” on the Big Island. Visiting working farms is a great way to connect with Hawaii residents, explore new areas of the island, and sample the bounty of the land.

Students from DePauw University sampling bee pollen.

Volcano Island Honey has been welcoming visitors to the bee farm, or “apiary,” for over 20 years. The bees have so much wisdom to share with us about how to live gently on the earth and in community with one another. Richard Spiegel, owner of Volcano Island Honey has been passionate about the bees and the environment for over 30 years.

Richard shows Lama Dhondup a frame from the bee hive.

Visiting Volcano Island Honey is always an authentic experience because Richard wears his heart on his sleeve (or his bee suit, as the case may be!) When you visit, Richard (resident beekeeper-hippy-lawyer-philosopher) shares his personal and professional philosophy evolved from over 30 years of working with the bees.

Next time you are visiting Hawaii, or have friends or family visiting you- consider spending part of a day at Volcano Island Honey. The company has just launched a new Private Artisan Apiary Tour designed to give visitors more one-on-one time with Richard and the Bees. (You even get to put on a bee suit and explore the inside of a hive, but you don’t have to!)

Posted by Andrea Dean.