Add to Favorites The honey bee cluster moves up in winter and down in summer. The downward movement is easiest to see in a feral colony built into a tree …
Read MoreAll during the foraging season, honey bees collect pollen and nectar. They use nectar for energy to keep going from day to day. Any extra nectar is turned into honey and stored in combs.
Read MoreEven before we open our first beehive, we are warned about pests that may live within. Small hive beetles, wax moths, and varroa mites are things we dread, so early in our training we learn how to deal with them.
Read MoreWe work with the seasons and the bees’ own incredible ability to self-regulate to keep heat, cold, and moisture in check. While it is useful to look at how bees live “in the wild” to understand their natural preferences, it’s good to remember that honey bees are adaptable and live all over the world, in all climates.
Read MoreAdd to Favorites As we head into winter, with so much to do on the homestead, it can be easy to overlook the winter needs of your honey-producing bees. But …
Read MoreJust when you think winter will never end, you suddenly awaken to an azure sky. You hear sounds you haven’t heard in months: frogs, birds, kids. Without warning, honey bees you haven’t seen since fall are circling overhead, stretching their wings and looking for nectar.
Read MoreWhen 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.
Read MoreI live just outside of Seattle. Yesterday I found a queen dead on the landing board of my top bar hive. She was with two worker bees that were alive. I am not sure what they were doing. Pushing her off of the ledge?
Read MoreDead bees head-down in cells is a common occurrence, but beekeepers seldom agree about the cause. The most commonly heard theory is that the bees could not find food and died licking the remaining molecules off the bottom of the comb.
Read MoreAdd to Favorites By Alexis Griffee, Florida Winterizing beekeeping equipment, while the hive sleeps, avoids problems when the weather warms up. As the cooler weather rolls in, our thoughts on the farm …
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