Like all animals, honey bees need a dependable source of water year round. The best water sources for bees are ones that won’t go dry in the summer, won’t drown the bees, and won’t be shared with livestock or pets.
Read MoreBecause the workers are already racing against time, it is highly unlikely the swarm will leave. Once you see combs being built, odds are they will stay.
Read MoreDo you have any info regarding the poisoning of bees on sunflower crops?
Read MoreMost Osmia mason bees are generalist pollinators, foraging on a wide variety of plants. As a rule of thumb, Osmia prefer tube-shaped blossoms or flowers with irregular shapes. Some of their favorites are various mints, penstemon, scorpionweed, and willows. They also like legume family plants such as indigo bush, clover, and vetch along with composites such as thistles.
Read MoreIt’s hard to recommend a schedule because the rate of reinfestation will vary depending on the number of hives—both managed and feral.
Read MoreI have three hives started last year and all three swarmed in the last week. Now, they are swarming again — the same colonies. Why do the same colonies keep swarming every few days?
Read MoreBees swarmed yesterday from our hive. They are in one of our fruit trees. Today it has been raining all afternoon with temps in the high 40s to 50. Is the swarm able to survive in this weather?
Read MoreCould a drone be effective in locating swarms? I assume you are asking about a man-made drone, not a male honey bee. A male honey bee would be useless in that line of work!
Read MoreOf all the disease names, chalkbrood paints the most vivid picture. Even if you’ve never seen chalkbrood symptoms, white chunks of mummified brood are hard to mistake for anything else.
Read MoreThe real problem with feeding honey from another hive is whether the honey is contaminated with spores of American foulbrood (AFB).
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