Have you ever wanted to have locally grown products available close by in the neighborhood? The fine folks at Franciscan Monastery Garden Guild (FMGG) have something for you. The FMGG supports the gardens in the monastery and sponsors multiple events each year including the Franciscan Monastery Herb & Plant Sale and the Annual Easter Lily sale. In addition to upholding the beautiful gardens at the monastery the FMGG raises bees on the grounds.
I was lucky enough to get a behind the scenes tour from Chris Schierkolk a Brookland resident, co-moderator of the Brookland Listserv, FMGG member, and apiarist. Chris gave me a pretty in depth tour of the bee keeping operation on the monastery grounds. There are a total of 5 beekeepers that manage 2 apiaries at the monastery. For this city boy it was my first close up look into a beekeeping (or apiculture) operation.
The first thing that I noticed was the large amount of land that the monastery has in the back. I honestly did not realize there was so much open land in the back on the monastery. It was basically a large meadow; it felt like I was out in the country on a farm in the middle of nowhere. It was very peaceful and serene, and a great way to spend a saturday morning.
The second thing that I noticed immediately was the great old greenhouse located behind the monastery. This greenhouse is no longer in use as a true “hot” greenhouse but is still used by the FMGG. This greenhouse is very impressive both architecturally and historically and is a visually stunning building with great old windows and lots of great light.
In earlier years the residents of the monastery used to grow all their own produce and had their own livestock as well. Today less is being grown there, but there is still a respectable sized garden with herbs, tomatoes, peach trees, and hops among other vegetables. Something could be said for a having some chickens and a hen house back their even today.
The beekeeping operation is very interesting at the monastery gardens, there are a number of beehives managed by different folks at the FMGG. The beehives are standard hives with two compartments at the bottom for the queen and her drones, and two compartments on top for honeycombs. Between the two set of compartments contain a queen excluder to keep the queen in the bottom components.
These hives also make use of “bee space” and the frames are not glued togethers. The bees however will use propolis which is a resinous mixture that honey bees collect from tree buds, sap flows, or other botanical sources as a sealant for unwanted spaces in the hive.
I was lucky enough to put on beekeeper attire and get very close to the bees while Chris gave the bees sugar water.
The first thing we had to do after getting suited up was to light the bee smoker. The smoker is used to calm bees and encourages them to retreat back into the beehive.
According to wikipedia:
The fact that smoke calms bees has been known since ancient times; however, the scientific explanation was unknown until the 20th century and is still not fully understood. Smoke masks alarm pheromones (which include various chemicals, e.g., isopentyl acetate[1]) that are released by guard bees or bees that are injured during a beekeeper’s inspection. The smoke creates an opportunity for the beekeeper to open the beehive and work while the colony’s defensive response is interrupted. In addition, smoke initiates a feeding response in anticipation of possible hive abandonment due to fire. When a bee consumes honey the bee’s abdomen distends, making it difficult to make the necessary flexes to sting
A couple of other random facts about bees I learned don’t wear dark colored cloths around them they will tend to think that you are a bear. Of course I had the foresight to wear a black t-shirt that day. Also, during winter the bees form into a winter cluster around the queen for warmth kind of like a giant rice ball. These clusters tend fair better in the winter the larger the cluster. This was an interesting factoid to learn.
The honey produced in the monastery’s apiaries is available for sale at the Franciscan Monastery gift shop in bears and glass jars ranging in size from 1 to 10oz, and prices vary in size. The honey is very fresh and tasty and if you want some locally produced Brookland/Washington DC honey this is probably your best bet to get some. The Franciscan Monastery gift shop is located in the Franciscan Monastery at the corner of 14th and Quincy streets in NE Washington DC.
The full set of photos can be viewed on Flickr
