feeding bees
Raise Bees in Your Backyard
Everything You Need to Know about Raising Honeybees from Beehives for Beginners to Beekeeper Supplies to Why Pollination is Important
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Your Seasonal Beekeeping Calendar
When you are new to beekeeping, it’s good to have a game plan. Today let’s explore a seasonal beekeeping calendar and your to-do’s throughout the year.
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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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Movements of the Winter Bee Cluster
The honeybee cluster moves up in winter and down in summer. The combs start at the top and are added in layers, one beneath the other, as the colony expands.
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What Happens to Bees in the Winter?
In order to prepare your hives, it’s important to understand what happens to bees in the winter and how your climate affects them.
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How to Make Pollen Patties
To 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.
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Feeding Honey Bees Successfully
Sometimes even the honey bee is stretched too far when resources just aren’t available. In this article, we’ll cover the why, how, and when of feeding bees.
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What Does a Caught Swarm Need to Thrive?
I just caught my first swarm by placing a deep hive body on top of a very active swarm on a low brush pile. When I got the deep back to the yard, I installed a frame feeder and a top feeder as well as a pollen patty. I inspected the hive yesterday afternoon, and it is packed out with bees (maybe 5-6 lbs ).
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Can I Feed Bees Honey From Another Hive?
The 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.
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Is Fondant Actually Detrimental to Bees?
When you cook sugar or add an acid such as vinegar or cream of tartar, you break the molecular bonds that hold sucrose together and end up with the two simple sugars. It’s the fructose portion that causes the problem. When fructose is heated it produces hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), which is toxic to bees.
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