By trade, Anthony Ricci is a landscaper and a singer – although, he says, the singing gigs aren’t what they used to be. There are way too many funerals lately.

And then there’s another side to Tony, one where you can’t see his contagious smile. On a recent Friday afternoon as the temperatures finally crawled into the 60s, Tony wore a hat with fine netting draped across his face and the back of his neck. His voice was muffled. His jacket could have come from a first responder’s wardrobe. It was of heavy material, had giant pockets and reached below his knees. His jeans were strapped tightly around his ankles. His gloves were thick, but they didn’t restrict his movements.

On the other hand, his accomplice – his wife, Lorna, who for decades ran the Warwick-based Ocean State Center for Independent Living – was in spring clothes, hatless, fearless and ready to help.

Tony was on the front line of spring cleaning five beehives, lined up so they are exposed to the south and the sun, for another season of harvesting. Not all that far away is Hoxsie Four Corners with its own busy bees of motorists and shoppers.

Seemingly no concern to the bees that seemed intent on their work, Tony lifted a cement block from one hive and placed it on the ground before raising the cover to inspect what was inside.

“This is all insulation,” he said pulling sheets of pink foam from inside and around the hive.  Without it during this unusually harsh winter, Tony and Lorna surely would have lost hives.

With the warmer weather, bees went about their work entering the hives from a screen lattice not far from the ground.

Feeding bees a tile of pollen

“This one is active,” said Tony, lifting the lid to another hive. “They could use some pollen.”

Lorna knew what that meant. She left, returning with a pollen patty about the size of a bathroom tile and the same thickness. Tony laid it on the upper floor of the hive and replaced the top.

A bee colony will have 30,000 to 50,000 bees. The queen can lay upwards of 1,500 eggs daily. She lives in the hive along with worker bees, which live up to six months and run the place. Drones mate with the queen and live one to two months.

Nearby was the smoker, a handheld device about the size of a coffee pot with an enlarged spout. Smoke wafted from the spout. Tony lifted it to demonstrate its use, waving it near the opening to the hive. The bees didn’t seem to mind. They weren’t angry, but they retreated. Tony uses the smoker when the bees are agitated and when removing honeycombs.

The Grumpy hive

He uses the smoker more on “Grumpy,” his name for the hive that customarily is more troublesome than the others.

“Inside the hive is not a happy place,” he concludes.

Hives are built with removable stories with the top story – the super – being the one for harvesting the honey. Before removing it, he smokes the hive, causing the inhabitants to congregate near the queen downstairs. Then he brings the whole honeycombed flat, weighing about 45 pounds, to his cellar to separate and bottle the honey. Last year the Riccis bottled more than 600 12-ounce bottles.

The first harvest of the season is a light yellow hue called “white honey.” As the season progresses, the honey gets darker. Last fall, Tony said, it was so dark and syrupy that he left it in the hive. Perhaps it was a telltale of the cold to follow. He augments what honey is left in the hive with plate-sized rings of hardened sugar.

Local honey sold in local stores

Lorna’s late brother Kurt Cameron introduced them to beekeeping and was their mentor until his death. They forged their own way in 2017 and haven’t stopped. They sell the honey at Sandy Lane Meat Market and other local outlets. A 12-ounce bottle sells for $11.

Tony said he started off with Italian bees, but at this point “they are Rhode Island mongrels.” 

Swarming occurs when a queen is pushed out of the hive by a new queen. The old queen takes off with her retinue to establish a new hive.

Tony said yard-spraying for insects kills bees and other pollinators. He is also down on herbicides, especially ones used at this time of year to kill dandelions that are among the first spring flowering plants. The herbicides also kill the bees that he finds dead.

Tony probably could have tended the hives without wearing all the protective gear. He has a good relationship with his bee team and he believes they understand he’s there to help and protect them … but then one never knows what the Grumpy hive might have for him.