6 posts ago, I said that I would “write about my bee yards”, in the next post. Well as you can see I had other posts on the net before I put what I said. Sorry. “Better late that never”.

I went to the last 5 apiaries today just to see what has to be done. I have made a list so my young beekeeper can see what we are going to do tomorrow.

There will be top board to change, taking frames of live bees out of a dilapidated brood box and putting them into the new one, adding some inner covers, and checking a colony to find out what is ailing it to the point of not producing like the other colonies in the same apiary.

I have 25 hives left from winter. All but one is medium strong to real strong. One is not on the same level as the others and that is the one I need to go through thoroughly. The real strong one is getting ready to swarm and that is the one I want to split. I will be looking for queen cells in that hive so I can requeen any colonies that have spotted brood patterns. That is a sign that the queen is getting old and running out of eggs to lay. By using a queen cell, I don’t have to spend money for a new queen, and the hive that I am going to split is a gentle hive, hygienic, and a very good producer of pollen and honey. That is the kind of queen you need to use as a breeder for other queens.

I will continue this discussion in another post. Now I suggest that you read a book on bees and order a monthly bee magazine, either and/or all, Bee Culture, American Bee Journal, Speedy Bee. These are good sources of information.

Until next time, keep enjoying your bees and honey.