Kay Hanna-DeLuca: What honeybees can teach us about community

This week, we welcome Kay Hanna-DeLuca to teach us about the interdependence of pollinator flowers, honeybees, and humans–an important lesson for us to emulate. Our weekly blog readers may recognize the DeLuca part of Kay’s last name and connect it to Tad DeLuca, who is Kay’s spouse. If you haven’t yet read Tad’s blogs of August 19 and 26, please read them first to help you contextualize Kay’s supportive comments here.

I have always enjoyed gardening–especially perennial flowers. Tad and I live in the northernmost part of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, where we can count on an annual average of 148 inches of snow. We lived on Avery Lake for 30 years–a beautiful location, with an amazing view of the lake and lots of old-growth trees. My gardening was restricted to shade plants that deer will not eat and a few sunny perennials…, very few.

In 2016, we bought a house on Oley Lake to reduce my daily work commute as a pharmacist from 70 miles round trip to 12 miles. The house was well-built, but needed a serious cleanup. We finally moved in December of 2017. When the house was first built, it was professionally landscaped, but 20 years of neglect left it overgrown, half-dead, and ugly. I started cleaning up outside–pruning, dividing and cutting out plants, shrubs and trees. I applied for and received a grant from Michigan State University to plant native wildflowers and grasses along the shoreline to improve water quality and reduce erosion. I loved it.

Italian honeybee on Butterfly Weed. Credit: Matt Macek

Closeup Italian honeybee on Butterfly Weed. Credit: Matt Macek

Italian honeybee on Red Coneflower. Credit: Matt Macek

Italian honeybee on Sea Holly. Credit: Matt Macek

Red and pink Cornflowers. Credit: Kay Hanna-DeLuca

Apple blossoms. Credit: Kay Hanna-DeLuca

Columbine. Credit: Kay Hanna-DeLuca

Hydrangea (back) and Spiderwort. Credit: Kay Hanna-DeLuca

Ornamental cherry trees. Credit: Kay Hanna-DeLuca

Photos (across from top): 1 & 2: Bees feed on Butterfly Weed. 3: Bee feeds on Coneflower. 4. Italian honeybee on Sea Holly. Photos 1–4: Matt Macek. 5. Red and pink Cornflowers. 6. Apple blossoms. 7. Columbine. 8. Hydrangea (back) and Spiderwort.

9. Ornamental cherry trees. Photos 5–9: Kay Hanna-DeLuca.

As I expanded and expanded and expanded my perennial garden, I put more thought into planting to support pollinators–bees, insects, butterflies and birds. Without these critters to pollinate plants–flowers, trees, and food crops–, our planet will die. I am so excited to see a butterfly or a bee in my garden. It gives me joy to do something to support them.

Kay opening beehives. Photo: Tad DeLuca

I gradually started thinking more about bees, in particular. The idea of being a beekeeper seemed fun and important. Tad and I took a beginning beekeeping class in February of 2023. We ordered the hives, the suit, the veil, and the bees, and all of the other essentials. I started to do more reading and was blown away by the complexity of bee societies. If the queen bee becomes sick or too old, she releases a pheromone to tell the hive to raise a new queen. Survival of the hive–the community–is foremost. Each bee has a designated role: tending to the brood (eggs), tending to the queen, foraging, security, sanitation, and many other roles. If more bees are needed to forage, the queen releases a pheromone recruiting more forager bees. The opposite is also true – the queen communicates by pheromones to keep the whole hive/community in balance.

Kay with hive, bees, honeycomb. Photo: Tad DeLuca

Honey. Liquid gold. Yes, I benefit from harvesting honey from my hives. And the farmer across the road who planted soybeans and corn also benefited from the hives. I am also aware of my benefit to the bees. Because I have planted flowers they prefer–lavender, monarda, hydrangeas, agastache, foxglove, apples, and cherries–they do not have to travel as far for pollen and nectar. They can conserve their energy to build more honeycombs, raise broods, and establish an overall stronger hive. We have a relatively balanced ecosystem on the shores of our little lake.

Wow. We could learn a lot from honey bees. Maintaining community balance, supporting each other and the community for the good of us all. Think about it. If a forager bee is assaulted by a hornet, the hive does not disbelieve the bee, harass or ostracize that bee. They defend that bee and the hive by going after the hornet. There is no hesitation. The hornet is a threat not just to one forager bee, but to the health of the entire hive. Yet, humans look the other way or blame the victim in an assault. How can we support individuals or have a healthy community when we don’t take care of ourselves and neighbors?

Kay with healthy honeycomb. Photo: Tad DeLuca

As a beekeeper, it is so important to approach the hive in a calm and deliberate manner. If you are rushing or careless, the bees will feel threatened and you will be stung. Wearing the protective gear is essential, but if there is any opening or unprotected skin…, well, you get the idea. And I have a strong reaction to bee stings: a lot of swelling, pain, and even cellulitis. The bees help to keep me grounded and focus on leaving any anxiety in the house.

My husband, Tad–contributor to this Healing Bells blog on August 19 and 26–is a survivor of trauma. Over the last couple years, he has spent a lot of time in Ann Arbor (home of the University of Michigan) and Lansing, Michigan (the state capital), supporting other survivors, and advocating for legislative change. That support can take a toll–bringing up old scars and relating to the pain and struggles of other survivors. I have always tried to be as supportive as I possibly can. Listening when he needs to talk, giving him his space when he needs to be still, and just generally maintaining an emotionally safe home. 

Kay inspecting honeycomb. Photo: Tad DeLuca

If you look at the Healing Bells website, the goal is to bring awareness to stories of social injustice and help individuals to heal from that trauma. An essential part of healing is to be believed, to be acknowledged, and to be validated. There shouldn’t be any hesitation to support another human being, especially if they are coping with trauma. Isn’t that what we would want for ourselves?

This has me wondering how people can learn more community spirit, loyalty, and compassion from this small insect–a honey bee.

In next week’s blog, Healing Bells Board Secretary Alexandra Ruiz Costas will tell her story about finding a healing and supportive community with Healing Bells amidst a time of unimaginable grief. Read her inspiring story when it drops on Tuesday at https://healingbellsglobal.com/blogs/.