We Save Bees!
The above average March temperatures allowed me to perform an early spring hive inspection of my overwintered colony. With temperatures above average all winter, and 10-20 degrees above average for the past week, the flowers in the area have started blooming early and the bees have been very active. The […]
That’s what I get for leaving a super filled with frames inside my basement – d’oh! Luckily, all is not ruined because the frames were made using plastic foundation and not wax. I’ve seen what unfettered wax moths can do to wax foundation and it is ugly! Yet, still the […]
What does a beekeeper do with bees in January and February? Are there jobs to do when the bees are tucked away in the hive all day? What are the bees doing in there anyway? Beekeeping is a local art, similar to a plant hardiness zone and completely dependent on […]
Those blood sucking, drone thirsting, parasitic, bee vampire creatures. See that reddish-purple circle on the back of my bee? That’s a parasitic mite called Varroa destructor. It’s a nasty blood lusting, bee version of bedbugs and every hive in America is infested. These parasitic things suck the life out of […]
There are layers and layers of bees on every frame, but where is all the honey? Those thoughts keep popping through my head as I dump another empty 50 lb bag of sugar in the trash. I know we’ve had our problems, but come on girls, I thought you were […]
Merging the two queen hive into one. An ode to the Swarm Queen. The fall is fast approaching and it has come time to prepare the bees for winter and disassemble my two queen hive. It is necessary to restore the bees back to the normal two deep configuration for […]