I had a short conversation on the phone with a new beekeeper. He had bought a nuc from me and was calling to ask questions about it. He also mentioned that a friend was buying a nuc from a bee supplier in Marianna, FL. My young beekeeper said that he had asked his friend to [...]

Here is the low down on my honey extraction. Today, I got to extract the honey I had pulled 7 days ago. Let me tell you, I am real disappointed with myself. I have been told over and over and over again to extract within three days of pulling honey. I was even told why. [...]

I have compiled a few notes to help you to be a more successful beekeeper. I also needed this information for myself. Here goes——
1. Plan: Long Range Goals. Think about what you want to accomplish with your bees. What are your goals? Do you want to keep bees for just the enjoyment of watching them [...]

Do you realize that the Bee Spring is here? Just think, the bees are laying frantically to have the full force of bees for the Red Maple and other early bloomers. That is — the queen is laying frantically, if —- she has the pollen and nectar available. Now is the time to check the [...]

The one thing that you really don’t want in your extraction room is bees. They can sting unsuspecting fingers and other exposed parts of the body.
The place to get rid of the bees is at the hive location. Now there are several ways to do this, however, keep in mind that there is no right [...]

“When do I have to feed the bees and what do I use?” That is a question that is common among the new beekeepers. The answer is simple but the application is somewhat different. When to feed is when there is no honey or pollen left in the hive. Some of the beekeepers take all [...]

When is the time to check the apiaries to see if all is okay? Answer: When the weather turns nasty, when the wind is blowing hard, when your land owner calls saying something is wrong with you hives/bees.

I got a call from one of my landowners saying that my hives were tipped over and the [...]

I told you that I had received my queens in good shape. What I haven’t told you is that Murphy’s Law struck again! I was going to go to the bee yards the next day or two and remove the old queens and maybe pull honey at the same time. Didn’t happen. I got a [...]

I ordered 25 more queen bees today. They should be here by this weekend and I will try once more to requeen my colonies. I had to purchase 25 to get a price break. $2.00 a head will be worth the extra queens. I only need 14. I will try to sell the ones I [...]

I need to requeen all my hives not because I signed a piece of paper promising that I would implement Best Management Practices (BMP), but because I have never requeened in the Fall. I read that Fall queens will lay eggs longer because they are new queens and they haven’t learned to shut down as [...]