A key time for getting a jump on varroa is when the colony is broodless, since any mites present will be in a phoretic state rather than hiding inside capped brood.
Read MoreAdd to Favorites All hives, even healthy ones, will have wax moths. I didn’t understand this when we first started beekeeping. I thought that if we were good beekeepers our …
Read MoreRaising honeybees is a challenge. One day your hive looks good and a few days later you wonder if it’s going to live.
Read MoreChanging genetics (and achieving diversity) can be achieved by installing a new queen bee or “requeening.” Is this the solution to better overwintering in the Northeast?
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 MoreCartoons and movies give us an (incorrect) idea of what swarming bees look like. So when the time to ask questions came up in my first beekeeping class, I asked, “Why might my bees leave the hive?”
Read MoreTo get started making your own patties, you’ll need a recipe. Many are readily available online with many folks adding various supplements such as essential oils, amino acids, or probiotics. However, it’s often best to begin by keeping it simple.
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). If any of the colonies that produced it had AFB, the honey can easily become contaminated. And when you have a large bucket, the honey is likely from multiple colonies, which increases the chances of contamination.
Read MoreSpring rain is a welcome sight to a homesteader who is busy sowing seeds and planting crops. However, those same spring rains can turn into devastating storms that often leave beekeepers wondering how to help bees weather the storms?
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