Fish Fry/Mini-Workshop

I am questioning if I am a bee keeper or bee haver or maybe even if I am a Wannabee.  I have had 6 nucs (splits, swarms, etc) and one swarm that had moved into one of my honey supers to be cleaned. All these were in my back yard (I use the back yard [...]

Since my wife was in the hospital for 5 days with E. Coli in her blood, I was at a standstill. I was able to attend a 4H camp and talk to about 200 students and adults one evening. But since then, my wife just got out of the hospital Thursday. I could not let [...]

I have in my yard right now, 8 boxes (nuc size) of bees I have caught as either swarms or splits for different reasons in the last 4 weeks. In this group there is a swarm that moved into one of my “to clean” boxes. It is a honey super. I had to change the [...]

My friend Doug got the glass replaced in the observation hive and brought it to me yesterday. After finding the queen, marking her with green paint, and clipping her wing, we took a frame of brood and bees with the queen from the nuc we had to use when we broke the glass. Only one [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]