I heard from the guy doing the food bank's Victory Farm that there was a little rooftop garden at the main food bank downtown, but they didn't have anyone running it. So I thought, "I can do that, manage a little garden" and asked about taking it on the next time I was at the food bank. That's when I found out the garden is in support of a couple of little bee hives. Eek!
Well, I've been mellowing on the bee subject lately, starting to accept the idea that honeybees aren't the yellow jackets of my childhood, and it's a reasonably convenient location except the last dozen feet or so, so I decided to give it a try. I've got some height issues -- not so much altitude itself, more like ledges and gratings, which I guess isn't that surprising in someone who's been told she's too fat all her life, but that's a completely other story -- but I really thought the bees would be (heh heh) the problem. The Development Director herself came out to spot me on the ladder (and who isn't a sucker for being made to feel important?). I made it up with only a couple pauses for deep, steadying breaths. Then the bees..
just weren't a problem. They went on about their little bee lives and didn't attack me, didn't all gather to investigate me, didn't try to land on me. Yep, honey bees really aren't yellow jackets or wasps.
So I investigated the set-up, took photos of the surviving plants to try to ID them (some calendula, nice clumps of oregano and sage, various mints, several catnips, a probable lemon balm, and assorted dandelions) and generally stayed away from the edge. I cleaned out some of the dead plants and started a very basic compost pile. Then it was time to go back down the ladder (which you can just see in the general view above).
That took some teetering on the edge, feeling around with my lead foot and doing some more deep, steady breathing, but my spotter gave me some direction and after the first couple of rungs I wasn't that high anymore. So, my verdict was that it was do-able. I have charge of the bee garden.
Now what?
The westernmost of the two hives seems to be OK, although I don't know how much honey they've stored up for the winter. They're as well-off as they're likely to get at this point.
The eastern hive is a bit more of a problem. I don't know at this point if they don't like the inside of the hive for some reason or if the inside is just full. In any case they've built their comb outside the box, which is likely to be a problem when the weather turns. There's not a lot that can be done there either, except maybe find a piecee of plywood or heavy cardboard and secure it so it can shelter the comb some.
Water is going to be a priority this winter, as in, getting some kind of system set up so the plants don't need daily watering once it gets warmer. So this winter I'll be trying to invent/design something on the lines of a drip system, as cheaply as possible. There are a couple of water barrels up there, which can be refilled with a hose from below, so there's a decent source of water, it's just a matter of getting it to the (fairly shallow) beds and any other containers that get added.
The bees also need a water source, although presumably they've been drinking from somewhere all summer. There's a cafeteria-type tray up there, but I'm not sure if it was set there for water or if it just got thrown up onto the roof like the other trash I cleared off. I left it there for now, but I have some nice big plant saucers to replace it with and fill with rocks so the bees will have someplace to stand while drinking.
Another winter project will be educating myself so I'll have some kind of clue when it comes time to clean everything up next spring. GRuB has some classes I may be able to access, but for now I've requested a couple of vids from the library. I'm told these are "top bar" hives so I requested the two vids I found that are specifically about that kind of hive. Wish me luck!
Then there's planning what to plant. I'll be getting some garlic to plant this fall, but that's as far as I've gotten so far. I'm thinking some rosemary would be nice, and maybe strawberries. There's already oregano, sage, calendula, catnip, and dandelions up there, plus a few things I haven't identified yet. If I can get some bulbs, I'd love to grow some saffron for the food bank, partly for the "wow" factor but also because I think saffron crocuses are cool. I also grabbed a few rugosa rose hips as I passed some bushes, to see if I can grow a bush from seed.
I should probably write up a wish list and maybe set up a GoFundMe page...
Esperanta traduko: this post is also available in Esperanto, because Dana is a language geek.
