Along a stretch of inter-coastal waters that move to the beating heart of nature, the ebb and flow of tides, and surrounded by marshlands that support the health of those waters, lives a family who for the last decade have been cultivating oysters.
At the same time, in a quiet pasture or backyard garden where life is measured in seasons, where production of honey means life or death for one species and to another a delicate flavorful delicacy, honeybees labor to keep their hive healthy and their queen satisfied – fat and happy.
On May 16, two people deeply immersed in pursuits that heavily depend on weather conditions as well as knowledge, oyster farming and beekeeping, gave a joint presentation hosted by a collaboration of the Mattapoisett Museum and Mattapoisett Land Trust.
The event brought together Robert Field who has been growing oysters on a track of waterway marked by bobbing boxes and baskets filled with “seeds,” infant oysters if you will, and Kitty de Groot who has dedicated years to learning the best practices for beekeeping and understanding the stressors bees must endure to survive.
Field’s presentation explored the lifecycle of an oyster from its earliest stages as larvae to an adult when it is ready to be harvested as food. He said the seed oysters are shipped to his site where, and with the conscripted assistance of his family, they are placed in oceanwater in specially designed boxes. A water circulation process known as an up-weller is employed to continuously circulate clean seawater from the inlet for a nutrient rich base for the seedlings.
Each box he receives contains about 50,000 seeds, Field said. Once the seeds grow to about one-half inch, they are transferred to baskets that are suspended just below the mid and high tide surface. During low tide, the baskets are exposed, which is part of the process. The baskets themselves are procured from a supplier in Australia and arrive ready to assemble; another job in which his family’s assistance is required.
The baskets keep the oysters safe from predators, Field said – predators with nasty names like “oyster drill”, a type of sea snail with the capacity to puncture the oyster’s shell and suck out the tender flesh.
In late winter, Field has to remove the gear from the oysters’ summer seasonal home in the shallow waters, and move them to deeper water. Throughout the long winter months, the oysters continue to grow in their baskets.
“When barnacles appear on the baskets, that’s a sign that spring is on the way,” he said, which means it’s time to move the baskets back to the shallow inter-coastal waters.
Between 15 and 24 months of dedicated nurturing produces a “raw bar” quality oyster, Field stated. The oysters found in restaurants up and down the east coast are all the same species, Eastern oysters. He said there is another variety on the west coast and that although oysters may be found throughout the globe, not all are worth consuming.
Field’s yields are sent to the wholesale marketplace before finally arriving on a plate or in a tub of crushed ice at a high-end buffet. He sells his stocks by the 100-count and said that so far this season he has sold 20,000 units.
Not far from the ocean’s edge, Kitty de Groot plies her trade as a beekeeper. Given that the past few years alarm bells have been sounding that beehives are collapsing, de Groot’s presentation included data that was hard to hear.
In two categories of beekeeping, commercial and backyard, de Groot said that hive loss was at as much as 50 percent. She said that USDA data, which has been tracking hive losses since 1988, shows a 15-percent overall decline. This data is startling for a variety of reasons, not the least of which, de Groot explained, was the damage to agriculture so dependent on the role of pollination for quality and quantity of yields.
Another problem that is now being vigorously debated was the lack of biodiversity. de Groot said that modern landscapes do not provide plant diversification, a theme that is echoed in industrialized food production. Other threats to hives are viruses, predators such as mites, and pesticides.
Moving from the daily struggle of the small but mighty bee, de Groot talked about the hive culture. She explained the role of the drones, something like a few good men, whose functions primarily involve fertilizing the eggs the large singular queen produces.
“The hive is nearly 100 percent female,” de Groot said.
It is the responsibility of the thousands of “sisters” to maintain the health of the hive, production of honey, and care of the offspring. In other words, they are doing the heavy lifting. Females also select the queen who is given nothing but “royal jelly”, which accounts for her heftier size compared to the other females. Given that the queen bee can lay as many as 1,500 eggs per day, a good diet is certainly warranted.
“Bees are living things that need to be taken care of,” de Groot cautioned. And while the total time investment might be as low as 15-30 hours per year, the investment in structural hives and gear can run a backyard enthusiast $700 and up, she stated. And, as if stating the obvious, “You will be stung,” she added.
Her passion for the important role bees play in keeping our plant healthy was indeed obvious.
By Marilou Newell