insects
How to Manage Ants in a Beehive
There is nothing quite like the sights and sounds of bees buzzing around, gathering pollen and nectar on a warm summer day. Summer and bees just seem to go together; unfortunately, so do summer and pests.
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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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Which Bees Make Honey?
While not all bees make honey, there are many species that do—perhaps hundreds.
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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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Growing Early Flowering Plants for Bees
Add to Favorites For most gardeners, fall is the time to bring in the last of the harvest, preserve and store what you’ve harvested, and put the garden to bed …
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A Slatted Rack and Robbing Screen Can Improve Your Hive Entrance
Add to Favorites One of the best things about a Langstroth beehive is its adaptability. By using optional pieces of beehive equipment like a slatted rack and robbing screen, you …
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How Do I Know if My Bees Are Too Hot?
Add to Favorites One of my favorite places to be on our property is in the bee yard. I will occasionally sneak in there with camera in hand and just …
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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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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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A List of Plants That Attract Bees
Add to Favorites By Alan Harman, Michigan – For thousands of years, bees have been helping feed people, but now in the face of an onslaught of chemicals and disease, they’re …
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