Robert Anderson Photo
Community collection
A group of concerned citizens is working with the Town to protect a collection of artwork donated to the children of West Harpswell and still hanging in the West Harpswell School. David Etnier, left, and Dave Hackett recently admired one of the collection’s paintings, Hamilton Harbor, created by Etnier’s father, Stephen.
Stacy Welner Photo
Smashing pumpkin
Mike Murphy shows off the Great Pumpkin he grew in celebration of Halloween. On September 24, Murphy’s gourd won third place, with a weight of 904 pounds, in the second annual Sanford Weigh-Off.
Tom Jones Photo, Mary Ann Nafh Inset Photo
Banned beaches
Inset: A private property sign and fence block off access to Cedar and Robinhood beaches on Bailey Island. An aerial view shows the beaches in contention. See article on page 9.
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The Anchor Staff
| 16 August 2010
Judith Stanton, of Bailey Island, pulls out a smoker - a common device used to calm honey bees. Her suit is in the trunk of her BMW station wagon, which is parked alongside the road at Two Coves Farm.
"We bought our place around Thanksgiving," says Stanton, whose license plates read New Jersey. Stanton says she has been in Maine for almost 20 years, but it was at Mount Desert Island.
"That hive there, the bees plus the equipment, is easily an investment of 500 dollars, and I have spent well over that over the past six years," Stanton says, motioning to a green hive beside a patch of trees.
Looking down at her smoker, Stanton says, "No one seems to know why this pacifies the bees, but the most accepted theory is that the bees are alarmed that there is fire, so they start to gorge on honey in case they have to leave the hive, and once they have their honey, they're pretty calm."
"It's like animal husbandry," Stanton says when asked about her role as a beekeeper. "You really have to help the bees along and provide ideal conditions for them to raise new brood - to lay eggs, to raise new bees, to become a strong populace hive, and make honey."
The sad thing, Stanton says, is the only now noticed issue of the decline of honey bees.
"It's not just this colony collapse disorder (CCD), which got into the news and was starting to get noticed around 2006, but honey bees have been declining since the 1970's."
Scientists and other experts each have their theories on the causation for CCD, or simply the decline in the population of honey bees in general, which are not native to the USA to begin with, but rather are European in origin and were brought to North America by the early settlers.
"It's really a variety of things," Stanton says. "A lot of it is habitat. Nobody has clover in their lawn any more - well, some people do. I do. Most people have these perfect lawns, but clover is one of the primary foods for honey bees. It gets them through the spring, summer, fall - especially if there's not a lot of pollen or nectar coming from other plants."
"With development," Stanton adds, "there aren't as many trees and flowers that honey bees preferred. So there aren't as many sources out there to forage. Then there are a lot of pesticides, herbicides, and parasites. There are also all kinds of diseases and pathogens."
Not all of the bees in Stanton's hive were inside, however, as many grouped outside in a cluster, yet stayed in place.
"It's called bearding," Stanton says. "They'll start from the entrance, which is at the bottom, and they'll just cover it - wall to wall - and they are attached to each other. They're just hanging off of the hive to keep cool. It's usually 90 degrees inside the hive."
Stanton now begins to put on her gear, all white in one piece, like a jumpsuit, with a protective net to cover her face and neck.
"There seems that there's always one or two bees that are just aggressive," Stanton says. "Reactions to stings seem to vary from person to person."
Stanton also mentions, citing a facts list that she brought along with the rest of her gear, that honey bees are not aggressive by nature, and will not sting unless protecting their hive from an intruder or are unduly provoked.
"There are so many people that overreact to bee stings," Stanton says. "Somebody said ‘my whole arm swelled up', and I said yeah, that's what happens when you get stung by a bee, that doesn't mean you're allergic. Actually, no symptoms at all after the first time you get stung could be more of an indication of an allergy than all of those other things."
Stanton says she has been stung a handful of times, twice on her face, and suffered swelling. She attributes that mostly to being insufficiently protected, and urges people to lower the level of panic around the insects.
"If you start feeling faint and get nauseous and vomit, that's a bad sign and you need to get right to the hospital or have an epipen with you," Stanton says. "But most people don' t get stung by bees. I think that people are so afraid of them. Beekeepers get stung, but I don't hear of too many other people that do. Or, they get stung by yellow jackets, which, unlike honey bees, are very aggressive."
With two hives and looking to expand throughout Harpswell, Stanton says, "If there is anyone out there that has a basswood tree, I would love to have a hive near it because it supposedly makes amazing honey."
There is an active state beekeeping organization with a Cumberland County chapter. So for those interested in getting into beekeeping, this would be a good place to start for information. FMI visit http://mainebeekeepers.org.