The Buzz On Bees And One Particular Beekeeper

Ted Meyer is as busy as a bee.

Tending to his hives has been a time-consuming activity for at least a decade, said Meyer, who spoke at the Montclair YMCA recently. Meyer, a retired manufacturer’s rep for a cleaning supply company, said he has nearly 60,000 bees in his hives by late spring.

“There is one Queen Bee, surrounded by thousands of worker bees who make honey after gathering pollen,” he explained. As a serious hobbyist, he buys one Queen and 2,000 worker bees to start the whole process in early April.

At the present time, Meyer has five hives in the Bloomfield Culture Center. He uses a system based on wooden frames with removable trays, developed by professional beekeepers 100 years ago.

“When I started out, I was apprehensive about getting stung. I always wore full protective gear: a white canvas suit, a hat with a long attachment that falls to the neck, and of course heavy leather gloves,” he told a rapt audience. Nowadays, he often wears only the mask contraption to protect his face and neck.

“I have been stung many times. It’s just part of the deal. There is no rhyme or reason to what upsets the bees; it’s just their mood at the time. I have read, however, that people with arthritis find bee venom helps to alleviate pain,” he noted.

Bees are very well organized, and cooperate with each other, Meyer said.  “They communicate with a “bees’ dance”. Each has a job to do. The worker bee lives about 30 days. The females gather food. The Queen can live for years. She lays 2000 eggs a day after mating with the drones. This produces worker bees for the next generation.”

However, if the Queen is dying or is not productive, the other bees will force her out of the hive. Those left behind will create a young Queen to take over the hive.

It’s a complicated process: they select several eggs and feed them a special substance known as “Royal Jelly”. Then they carefully take care of these eggs until several potential Queens emerge. The contenders fight it out to rule the hive, because there can only be one Queen Bee.

The deposed Queen will take some bees with her, and the black swarm will fly off looking for a new home to settle in, he explained. “I’ve seen a tornado of bees, 10 feet by 40 feet high, a very impressive sight!” he added.

After the worker bees produce the honey, they build a hexagonal cone to hold the substance. The area is sealed with a dark hard wax to protect their precious store. “This is the strongest shape they could choose.  It makes the most use of available space,” said Meyer. “I marvel at the way the system works.”

How does he extract the honey? Very carefully! “The best time is very early in the morning. I have a smoker and bellows. When they are exposed to the smoke, the bees become very excited and distracted, as they fly out of the hive,” he explained. He lifts the hexagonal honeycombs out of the wooden trays after gently chipping off the black adhesive the bees have laid down. Next, Meyer uses an extractor to purify the honey, eliminating pieces of bees, leaves, and other debris.

 In a good year, he will get 80 pounds of honey from each hive. “Harvesting the honey is a wonderful hobby ... time-consuming but rewarding husbandry,” Meyer said.

Local honey takes on the flavor of the plants and shrubs from its source.  “In other parts of New Jersey, there is honey that tastes of blueberries, for example,” he noted.

Meyer explained that bees will always stay local, returning to the same flowers and shrubs every year.

This father and grandfather has been married to his wife, Sally, for 43 years. After living in  Glen Ridge for decades, they moved to Verona three years ago. His daughter Sarah Meyer is very involved in the beekeeping project.

What does he put on the label to identify his honey? “Ted’s Bees” of course! He has some steady private customers and restaurants who have been buying it for years, plus he sells a surplus at the “Fair in the Square” in Verona in early December.

It’s a sweet endeavor.