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Countryside Magazine Contributor
Articles by Countryside Magazine Contributor
Fascinating Queen Bee Facts for Today’s Beekeeper
Queen bees are fascinating and sophisticated creatures. Before starting your honey bee farm, there are some queen bee facts you must know in order to be a successful backyard beekeeper.
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5 Tips for Starting Beekeeping
Will you utilize the most commonly used hive style, the Langstroth beehive or do you fancy yourself a top bar or Warre beekeeper? For protective equipment, you could use a veil, a jacket with vail, or a full body bee suit – which works for you? Location of your hive can impact your bees based on sun exposure (summer v. winter), wind exposure, accessibility, proximity to neighbors, and so on.
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Bee Bucks – The Cost of Beekeeping
Add to Favorites Keeping bees isn’t free and so I’m often asked, “What is the cost of beekeeping? If I’m looking to start a honey bee farm, what is the …
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The Importance of Winterizing Beekeeping Equipment
Add to Favorites By Alexis Griffee, Florida Winterizing beekeeping equipment, while the hive sleeps, avoids problems when the weather warms up. As the cooler weather rolls in, our thoughts on the farm …
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What Happens When the Queen Bee Dies?
Add to Favorites By Perry and Beverly Riley – Raising honeybees is a challenge. One day your hive looks good and a few days later you wonder if it’s going to live. …
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Why We Need to Protect Native Pollinator Habitat
Add to Favorites Doug Ottinger – Regardless of whether we live a rural lifestyle, an urban one, or something in between, our existence, and continuance of the world as we …
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What To Know As Spring Unfolds Into Summer
If April is the beekeeping equivalent of planting time, then May is when our efforts start to germinate.
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Let’s Talk About Losing Bees
Like many beekeepers, we lost bees this winter. New packages failed to build up in a normal way last summer and were unusually slow to build comb and put away stores into fall. In September, aggressive yellow jacket predation weakened them further leaving them unable to carry themselves through the cold.
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Propolis: Bee Glue that Heals
Honeybee propolis is a brown or reddish resinous substance made by bees to protect the hive against animal and bacterial invaders. The word “propolis” is a compound of the Greek words “pro” and “polis” and translates to, “Before the city.” Bees use propolis as a building material to fill gaps and crevices, varnish combs and shape entrances, sometimes creating fantastic gobs that supposedly aid ventilation in the hive.
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From Point A To Point Bee
When I sell bees to a new beekeeper, the question of moving bees often comes up. I get questions like, “Why do you move them after dark?” or “Can I move them again once they are set?” or “Why do they have to be moved at least two miles away?” These and other questions about the subject are not easily understood and can be very confusing to beginners. Yet, the more we learn about bees the easier they are to understand.
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