• 3 months ago
by Mary Thompson
illustrated by Donna Peterson
Transcript
00:00Gran's Bees.
00:12By Mary Thompson.
00:14Illustrated by Donna Peterson.
00:17My grandmother lives on an old old farm.
00:21Gran keeps only honeybees on her farm now.
00:25For as long as I can remember, Dad and I have been helping Gran with the beekeeping.
00:31When Gran needs to move the heavy hives to a new source of nectar for the bees or to
00:36have a swarm of wild bees or to harvest the comb honey that the bees have made.
00:42Dad and I drive up to the farm to help her.
00:45Getting close now says Dad as we turn from the highway onto the gravel road.
00:51Gran's farm is the last one farthest up the road and tucked away in its own hollow.
00:57Soon I see closer of farm buildings and then Gran leaning on her cane watching for us from
01:02her front porch.
01:05Gran greets me with a smile.
01:07Jesse.
01:09She says.
01:10Her honeywhite hair tickles my neck as I hug her hello.
01:15Gran I ask, is today a honey harvest?
01:18Honey harvest this summer she says.
01:22We walk together into the house.
01:25Gran's house is close with the smell of honey.
01:28And it is filled with beekeeping things.
01:32Every surface hold spare have parts, tools, blocks of beeswax, and the little boxes and
01:38jars full of comb honey that the bees make and Gran sells.
01:43Handy this way she always says.
01:46Gran fills two caps with coffee and sets them on the table.
01:51Dad finds a place for the honey cake we've brought.
01:55Wait.
01:56I say.
01:58What about spring water?
02:00I saved that chore for you Jesse Gran says.
02:04The spring water comes into the house through a pipe.
02:08But I always think it tastes better direct from the spring.
02:12I find a pail and run out the back door and along the path to the spring house.
02:17When I bend to dip the pail into the water.
02:21I feel the cool spring house air brush my skin.
02:25I take a sip.
02:27The water is cold and sweet as ever.
02:30After we eat, Dad gathers what we need from around the house.
02:35We load Gran's pick up with our gear and a container of lemonade I make with the spring
02:39water.
02:41Hand on tight Dad says.
02:44He lets me sit in the back of the pick up for the drive across the farm to the bee yard.
02:50Gran's farm is so old that it in all woods now.
02:53The trees reach around the house and barn and stretch up and up to the top of the hollow.
02:59From my spot in the track bed.
03:01I look up and see the branches arching over the road.
03:06It's almost like driving through a tunnel.
03:09I like the farm this way.
03:11But Gran say that besides the forest flowers, her bees use nectar from apple blossoms as
03:17well as from field crops like clover and buckwheat.
03:21In the early spring she puts the hives near her neighbor's orchards.
03:26This time of year, the edges of the fields are better for the bees.
03:31A mite ornery Gran says listening to the bees buzzing in the bee yard.
03:36Why are they ornery Gran?
03:38I ask.
03:40Maybe they know we're fixing to rob them she answers.
03:44Bees make more honey than they can really use.
03:47Even though Gran always leaves them plenty for their own needs, bees naturally defend
03:53their stores of honey.
03:55To protects ourselves from stings, Dad and I put on her veils and gloves.
04:01Even so, I'm a little scaled of the ornery bees so I close my sleeves and pant legs with
04:07rubber bands.
04:09But Gran never wears a veil or gloves or uses rubber bands.
04:13Gran, aren't you afraid of getting sting?
04:17I once asked her.
04:19I am too old for the bees to bother with she told me with a wink.
04:24But I notice that when Gran works with her bees, she moves slowly and she speaks softly.
04:30Plus, she always uses the bee smoker.
04:35Smoke doesn't hurt the bees.
04:37It just somehow slows them down.
04:40Gran fires up the smoker with a twist of newspaper and some bits of tug, then pumps the bellows
04:46a few times.
04:48Now it will smolder all afternoon.
04:52Gran props her cane against a hive.
04:55She aims the smoker at the hive entrance and puffs some smoke inside.
05:00Within a few minutes she opens the hive and puffs a little more smoke in at the bees.
05:06They are nice and quiet now.
05:09Gran lifts out a frame full with honey.
05:12The bees cling almost covering it.
05:15Gently, so as not to hurt her bees, Gran brushes them off the honeycomb with her soft bristled
05:21her brush.
05:23Each of Gran's hives is home to something like 50,000 or more bees.
05:29Every hive has one queen.
05:31There are a few male bees called drones who mate with the queen so she can lay eggs.
05:37But by far, most of the bees that Gran brushes off the honeycomb are female worker bees.
05:44Worker bees care for the young, collect flowers, nectar and make the honey.
05:49Gran hands the honey-laden frames to Dad and me.
05:53Slowly we move from hive to hive harvesting honey.
05:57The day is getting warmer and the afternoon air feels as slow and sticky as the honey
06:02we are gathering.
06:04Gran sets down her bee smoker.
06:07She leans on her cane.
06:09Plum wore out she says.
06:12So we rest on the truck's tailgate.
06:15Dad passes around the lemonade.
06:18A few bees circle us brought by the smell of the honey in the truck.
06:23But they soon give up and fly off in search of flower nectar.
06:28I've been trying to figure something out.
06:31Gran, what do been do during the winter, when there are no flowers?
06:36Bee life changes says Gran.
06:39Instead of flying off to get nectar, the bees stay in the hive.
06:44When the weather gets cold they barely move.
06:47But put your car to the hive and you'll hear a low hum.
06:52When spring comes that hive bursts into life she continues.
06:56The old bees that have overwintered die and the new young bees take over the work of the
07:01hive.
07:03Year after year certain sure.
07:05It's late when we finish with the hives and bring in the honey.
07:10Dad and I move some of Gran's bee stuff out of the way and make supper with biscuits for
07:15the new honey.
07:16In the morning we put up the comb honey that we harvested from the hives.
07:22We separate the honeycomb from the wooden frame, cut it in chunks, and tip it into jars.
07:28Later, Gran will scrape the bits of beeswax from the frames to make them ready to use
07:33again next season.
07:36Gran is polishing the last jars clean and shiny.
07:40There's a swarm of wild bees in the barn she says.
07:44In the barn.
07:46That's an odd place for bees to settle.
07:49Gran usually finds swarms outside in trees.
07:53And I know from Gran that this is late in the year for bees to swarm.
07:58Swarming usually happens at the peak of the spring honey flow when there may he too many
08:03bees for a hive.
08:05I'm curious about this swarm.
08:08I look at Dad.
08:10I know we have to leave for home soon, but I ask anyway.
08:15Can I see it?
08:17Go ahead he says.
08:19I'll finish up here.
08:21Inside, the barn is dusty and striped with sunshine coming through the gaps in the wall.
08:27Gran's barn hasn't sheltered farm animals for many years.
08:31But I always think I can feel their warmth.
08:35I look in each empty stall.
08:38Milk cow on that side.
08:40Says Gran.
08:42And a mule or two over here.
08:45Gran lowers herself onto a box while I climb up to look at the bees.
08:50They are clustered on a loose board beside the door to one of the old stalls.
08:55I'm not wearing my bee veil, so I'm afraid to get very close, but I can see that these
09:00bees have started to build comb.
09:04They means they are planning to stay.
09:07But the the spot they have chosen is too open to wind and weather to be a good home.
09:12I've seen Gran hive wild bees.
09:15The first part is the only tricky bit.
09:19Gran has to find the queen among the thousands of bees.
09:23Queens are just a little longer and slenderer than the workers.
09:28Once Gran finds her, the rest is simple.
09:31She sets the queen at the entrance to an empty hive.
09:36The queen goes right into it.
09:38They like dark secure places.
09:41The rest of the bees follow the queen as bees will straight into the hive.
09:46When I climb down to tell Gran about the bees, she's asleep.
09:51I sit on the box next to Gran and wait, I listen to Gran's humming breath a low humming
09:57that reminds me of bees.
09:59Pretty soon a stripe of sun reaches Gran's closed eyes and she wakes on.
10:05Gran I say.
10:07These bees are building comb, but this late in the summer they are not likely to make
10:12enough honey to last them through the winter.
10:16Gran nods her head.
10:18They might not survive the cold without a hive to protect them Gran.
10:23Gran I say.
10:25These bees need someone to take care of them.
10:28I think we can have this swarm.
10:31Gran smiles.
10:33When you come to the farm again Jesse, we'll have these bees.
10:38And this time you'll help me find the queen.
10:41About the author and illustrator.
10:44Mary Thompson's background in children's books in unusual in that she works as both
10:49an author and an illustrator.
10:52She is the author and illustrator of My Brother Matthew, the illustrator of My Johnny Appleseed
10:57and now she is the author of Gran's Bees.
11:01She lives in Providence, Rhode Island.
11:04Donna Peterson studied both art and biology at the University of Hartford in Connecticut.
11:11Her speciality is natural history illustration and she has contributed to a number of publications
11:17including Weekly Reader.
11:20Gran's Bees is her first children's book.
11:23She lives in Wethersfield, Connecticut.
11:27The End.