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Raising Mason Bees: Do’s and Don’ts
Raising mason bees is as simple as buying or making suitable housing and placing it where it will be discovered by the bees that already live in your area. If you don’t buy mason bees, starting is a bit slower, but the results are worth the wait.
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11 Must-Have Beekeeping Supplies for Beginners
When our son first decided he wanted to keep bees and we started looking at beekeeping supplies, we learned pretty quickly that starting beekeeping can be pricey. Since we are really not the kind of people to rush out and drop a lot of money on a new found hobby we had to get creative.
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Should My Supers Be Below the Inner Cover for Winter?
Having the inner cover in the way can block the bees’ pathway and funnel the heat to a small area instead of generally throughout the super. In addition, the retriever bees may have to travel further—first to the opening, then away from it to the food, and then back to the hole, and then back to the cluster.
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Can I Use Honey in a Pail Feeder?
You can try putting honey directly in a pail feeder, but I find it tends to crystallize in the holes after a few days.
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How to Make Fondant for Bees
Fondant for bees is a little different than the fondant that you find at the bakery. The bakery fondant can have high fructose corn syrup, cornstarch, coloring, and flavorings added to it. Making fondant for bees is a lot like making candy.
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What’s Wrong with my Homemade Fondant?
Beekeepers add vinegar to fondant recipes under the mistaken idea that you need to invert the sucrose for the bees. This is not true. Most nectar is mainly sucrose, but the instant the bees ingest it, their saliva breaks it down into glucose and fructose.
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Who is the Queen Honey Bee and Who is in the Hive with Her?
The honey bee hive is a busy place where every bee has a job. The hive consists of the queen honey bee, the drones, and the workers. Part of learning how to raise bees is learning what role every bee fills.
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Should I Leave Supers on For the Winter?
Should I leave supers on for the winter?
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How Do I Save a Late-Season Swarm?
Deciding how to handle a late swarm can be difficult, even for an experienced beekeeper. Although late swarms have a very low survival rate, they can be helped along with additional resources.
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Growing Early Flowering Plants for Bees
Add to Favorites For most gardeners, fall is the time to bring in the last of the harvest, preserve and store what you’ve harvested, and put the garden to bed …
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