Beekeeping 101
Starting Beekeeping: Find a Beekeeping Mentor
Mentoring is a traditional way for beekeepers to teach people starting beekeeping about tending bees. However, finding a mentor, someone who is both knowledgeable about hive management and interested in teaching you, can feel difficult, especially if you don’t know anyone who keeps bees in your area.
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How to Install Package Bees in a Langstroth Hive
Learning how to install package bees isn’t all that difficult, but if you are new to beekeeping, it can be helpful to see the process from start to finish. In this video tutorial, we’ll take you through the basic steps of installing your new honey bees in a Langstroth hive.
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Urban Beekeeping Benefits You and Your Neighbors
The list of urban beekeeping benefits is extensive, so long as we approach it in a neighborly way. Being a courteous beekeeper in a city or suburb goes a long way.
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5 Honey Bees to Consider, Including Buckfast Bees
One of the first questions a beekeeper asks is, “What kind of bees should I keep?” There are many bees to choose from: Carniolan, German, Italian, Russian, and Buckfast bees, to name a few. Which is the right one to keep?
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The Ins and Outs of Buying Bees
Every spring potential beekeepers begin to get excited about starting to keep bees. They read beekeeping books and articles, and talk to experienced beekeepers about everything from setting up their apiary to buying bees.
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The Secret of Winter Bees vs Summer Bees
We all know that female honey bees are divided into two castes: workers and queens. Although they both arise from normal fertilized eggs, the larvae that hatch from those eggs are nurtured differently.
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Why Do Bees Washboard?
When bees washboard, they space themselves on the surface of their hive then they plant their four rear legs in place and use their two front legs to step forward and back in a rocking motion while they lick the surface. Sometimes a colony will washboard for a day or two, but at other times it may continue for weeks.
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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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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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