East Village

 

Our apiary began with the purchase of three nucleus hives from a beekeeper I connected with through my local beekeeping group. Unfortunately, the hives were heavily infested with varroa mites, a common bee pest that required immediate, intense treatment to save the colonies. Without intervention, the bees would have weakened, becoming vulnerable to illness and disease, and likely would not have survived the winter. Sadly, the treatment was too harsh for the young queen, and she didn’t make it through. I introduced a new queen from California purchased from a local supplier, marking the birth of the East Village Hive.

As a former competitive gymnast, I name all my queens after elite gymnasts. The new queen of East Village was named Dianne, in honor of the legendary Dianne Durham. The first winter was tough on the hive, which emerged in the spring small but resilient. It didn’t take long for Queen Dianne to build up the population, eventually making East Village the strongest hive in the bee yard.

Since then, Queen Dianne has been succeeded by her daughter, Queen Betty, and now her granddaughter, Queen Dominique.