The Keeper of the Bees

Before we delve into the bounty of folklore inspired by bees and beekeeping, it is useful to understand the functionality of a hive, the role of the beekeeper and the work of the honey-bearing bee (Apis mellifera).

There are three members in a working hive: the queen, the worker bees (female) and the drones (male). The queen has the capacity to lay up to two thousand fertilised eggs a day. Without the queen, a hive would simply not survive. She is at the heart of the bee colony and is responsible for pumping life into the hive. By secreting a pheromone, which is carried throughout the colony by her dutiful worker bees, the queen dictates the movements, behaviours and social order of her kingdom. When introducing a new queen to a hive, Dad would transport her in a Cara matchbox. He would mark her back with a dot of red nail varnish to ensure she was easily found after she had been wholly accepted into the hive. To heighten those odds, he would gently insert the matchbox between two combs, leaving it slightly ajar. The bees would eat through the cardboard and eventually free the queen who, over time, adapted to her new surroundings by absorbing its smell and so be welcomed by the colony as one of their own.

Queens are recognisable by being slightly longer and plumper than worker bees. Worker bees are the smallest in physical size, which enhances their ability to leave the hive, gather pollen and be productive. Drones are heavier and stockier in appearance, but typically are not as long as the queen bee. In a crowded hive, the location of the queen is easily determined by the overcrowding caused by worker bees competing to attend to her. The worker bees feed, preen and clean their queen.

Bee colonies are completely matriarchal in their organisation and framework. Female worker bees have multiple roles and responsibilities in the hive. In addition to being servants to their queen, they regulate the temperature of the hive by the movement of their wings, renovate comb cells and guard the colony against foreign intruders. Their ability to sting heightens their effectiveness in this regard. Once they sting, however, they pay the ultimate price. As a sting is barbed, it becomes embedded in the flesh of the adversary. When the bee tries to free herself, the stinging mechanism and nerve strands are left behind, causing her to die. However, her forfeited life will not have been in vain. The severed sting emits an odour, or an alarm pheromone, which can guide other bees to the target or act as a warning sign to stay away.

Importantly, worker bees are the pollen gatherers and foragers. It is their toil that ultimately results in the production of honey. Although they are the smallest in stature, the female workforce is responsible for ensuring that this society thrives.

Other than contributing to temperature control, the drone's sole function is that of reproduction. Drones rarely leave the hive, which, in terms of evolution, may account for them never having developed a sting, as they have never needed to protect themselves. Their contribution to the colony does not merit their survival all year round. Come autumn, once their purpose of impregnating the queen is complete, they are an unnecessary burden on the hive. Drones are fed by the workers and, being larger in size, their maintenance is a drain on resources and an unwelcome pressure on space. When mating season has passed, the drones are ousted from the hive by the worker bees, who, in addition to being the nurses, guards, grocers, housekeepers and construction workers, also take on the role of undertaker.

In folklore, this act of killing is described as 'the massacre of the drones': the worker bees sting the males and eject them from the hive. Although a small portion of worker bees will die as a result, this loss will not affect the overall health of the hive, as drones account for approximately fifteen per cent of the hive's population. Some drones will be injured rather than killed and, once ousted from the hive, they will be forbidden re-entry by the guard bees on patrol. The killing and expelling of the drones contribute to good housekeeping ahead of the winter months. Often, worker bees are seen working in pairs, dragging the dead carcasses of slain drones outside the hive. What remains is an efficiently run matriarchal society composed of the queen and worker bees.

Throughout winter, a beekeeper will often supplement the food available to bees by feeding the colony a syrup of sugar and water. Naturally, a bee would be able to survive on its own honey stores during the winter should they not be fully harvested by the keeper. Many beekeepers, however, take all the honey stocks from the hive and substitute it with syrup. Old stories depict this food substitute taking different forms, from brown sugar to new milk, with mentions of porter and ale on occasion! There are descriptions in folklore of bees enjoying ale and the guards dragging drunk bees back into the hive. A more surprising foodstuff is the tradition of roasting a small bird on a fire and placing it at the entrance of the hive. Larger birds - roasted fat hens, in fact - are also suggested as good winter feed.

Alongside consistent and regular feeding, another key factor that influences the health and productivity of a hive is its location. In the Irish climate, it is hardly surprising that apiaries, or collections of beehives, are mostly found nestled in sheltered areas, with one side of the hive facing a hedgerow. Location is a vital decision: choosing an area that is bountiful with flowers and vegetation will affect the nectar collected and impact the flavour and consistency of honey produced. Beekeepers can use this to their advantage and manipulate their own unique taste by purposely planting specific crops around their hives or by finding a sweet spot that naturally provides a perfect blend. Dad has been fortunate to be able to keep hives in a number of places in Dublin, including Kilgobbin, Stepaside and Airfield Estate (formerly known as Airfield Trust) in Dundrum, with different flavours of honey resulting from each location.

Positioning a hive with a southerly aspect, combined with it being surrounded by trees and flourishing plains, has long been cited as vital for the quality of honey harvested. Heathery hills are seen as particularly favourable in old accounts of the dos and don'ts of beekeeping. In folklore, it is said that the bees can detect heather-laden areas specifically, knowing that heather creates particularly flavoursome honey.

One activity that is quite out of the control of a keeper is the act of swarming, which is when a cluster of bees leaves the hive and settles or alights elsewhere, such as the branch of a tree or the eaves of a house. The two main reasons that trigger swarming are overcrowding and the birth of a new queen. Either incident causes a portion of the bees to rise and leave the hive. One beekeeper's loss can be another keeper's gain, if one is willing and able to catch a swarm and rehome the bees quickly.

Methods of collecting swarms can vary, but rules of thumb apply. Depending on the location of a swarm, the cluster can generally be shaken into a temporary enclosure, be it a skep (a straw hive) or a cardboard box. One vigorous shake to the football-like structure is ideal to ensure the cluster remains in one unit. A bedsheet is useful, as it can be wrapped around the swarm, confining the bees and shading them from sunlight.

As a teenager, I would often accompany Dad when he travelled across Dublin to collect swarms. We would regularly get phone calls from panicked households asking for an unwanted swarm to be removed from a house or garden, particularly on hot summer days. It was perceived by the caller as an amazing service, and by Dad as an opportunity to access a new hive of bees: a win-win!

Dad and I would wait until evening before attempting to collect and rehouse a swarm. At dusk, bees will be calmer and more sedate, having full bellies after a day of foraging nectar. However, bees in a swarm will be more agitated as they are exposed to the elements and feel less protected as a result. A swarm will always alight with the queen in tow, alongside approximately a third of the worker bees. In a tightly clustered swarm, the bees work together to shelter their queen and can be territorial, being in fear of her safety. It is hardly surprising that these contributory factors will make the bees more agitated and prone to stinging at this time.

When I was stung, which was often, Dad removed the sting with the poison sac as quickly as possible to prevent the spread of the venom. I remember placing Reckitt's Bag Blue on the wound to alleviate the swelling. Blue bags were used to whiten laundry and their primary ingredient was baking soda. Traditionally, baking or bicarbonate soda was the most commonly documented remedy for the alleviation of inflammation caused by a bee sting. The juice of an onion was also a popular cure, as was clay, bruised plantain leaves and cod liver oil. An alternative method of removing a sting involved the use of a key. Accounts from Carlow, Waterford and Kildare recommend teasing out the sting using the barrel of an old-fashioned watch key. An account collected in County Cork specified that the key of a door...