Animals
Yesterday was another sunny day with temperatures in the 60's. The rain held off (I think today may be the day, though).
I took advantage of the wonderful weather, donned my bee suit, and headed out to feed the bees.
Earlier this week I mixed up a batch of sugar syrup in a 1:1 concentration of sugar to water. Once cooled, I poured it into old OJ bottles.
Each hive is equipped with a top feeder.
These feeders are great in that they hold a lot of syrup and the bees can access the food without ever leaving the hive. They sit above the hive body and supers but below the top board and roof. Each side of the feeder has a little floating platform with slits through which the bees sip the syrup. These feeders will keep the bees satisfied until such time as we have our first nectar flow....later in spring.
I also removed the winter jackets from each of the hives. We still may have some cold weather, but not as frigid as in the middle of winter. On days like this, when the sun is shining, the hive gets quite warm. I am afraid that the black tar paper may just make it a little too warm for the girls.
If you look closely, you will notice that the front right hive has no bees by its lower entrance. This is a bad sign. I think I may have lost this hive during the winter. Beekeepers will tell you that it is quite common to lose 20% of your hives during the overwintering process. Looks like I am well within normal limits. I hate to lose a hive, but if it is a weak one then I would rather it not survive and continue to be weak. I will order new bees for this hive once I am sure that the old ones are dead. The rest of the hives look like this today....
I have been stung once in the past three years. Good bee suits make all the difference!
We do not heat our honey....just drip it through a filter to remove old dead bee parts.
I do not use any medications, chemicals, etc, I practice natural beekeeping.
My honey is a mix of wildflower, clover, alfalfa, blueberry (whatever is growing on the farm)
Bees travel up to 2 miles away to look for nectar....we usually have plenty blooming right here, though.
Bees need a water source for drinking....we have a pond.
My hives are English Garden Hives....purchased through Brushy Mountain Bee Farms (online).
I purchase my bees locally from Bjorn Apiaries.
I love my girls!!!
Ok, have to get buzzy and clean the house....it's raining!!!
- Just An Ordinary Day
It seems as though we have skipped over Autumn and gone right to Winter!Temperatures never left the 40's yesterday,and nighttime lows are in the 30's.Brrrrrrrr..... We had a peaceful weekend at home with our animals.Chores, cooking and knitting...
- Winterizing Hives
We've had a week of unseasonably warm temperatures.An occasional frigid night reminds us, though,that winter is just around the corner.And this reminder means that time is running out forfinishing Autumn's chore list. The last of the extra chores...
- To Bee Or Not To Bee
Whew! Internet connection problems almost made it so that I would NOT BEE today!! Sorry so late with the posting. The bugs are all worked out. Now on to the REAL bugs!.....Bees, that is Yesterday's temperate weather gave Hubbs...
- Adventures In Beekeeping
Imagine this....you are driving down the interstate in your Honda Element with at least 100 loose bees buzzing around the inside of the vehicle. Scary? Not really. Yesterday I drove about an hour and a half to an apiary. After attending a seminar on Sustainable...
- Honey Harvest...the Process
Mike and Bev....ready to go to work on the hives. The proper attire is a must for this job. Thanks to these great suits we handled several hives (and hundreds of thousands of bees) with no stings! Mike getting ready to "smoke" the bees. The smoke has...
Animals
Beekeeping Basics
Yesterday was another sunny day with temperatures in the 60's. The rain held off (I think today may be the day, though).
I took advantage of the wonderful weather, donned my bee suit, and headed out to feed the bees.
Earlier this week I mixed up a batch of sugar syrup in a 1:1 concentration of sugar to water. Once cooled, I poured it into old OJ bottles.
Each hive is equipped with a top feeder.
These feeders are great in that they hold a lot of syrup and the bees can access the food without ever leaving the hive. They sit above the hive body and supers but below the top board and roof. Each side of the feeder has a little floating platform with slits through which the bees sip the syrup. These feeders will keep the bees satisfied until such time as we have our first nectar flow....later in spring.
I also removed the winter jackets from each of the hives. We still may have some cold weather, but not as frigid as in the middle of winter. On days like this, when the sun is shining, the hive gets quite warm. I am afraid that the black tar paper may just make it a little too warm for the girls.
Let's hope for a perfect spring and early summer so that we can count on a big honey harvest!
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions:
We do not heat our honey....just drip it through a filter to remove old dead bee parts.
I do not use any medications, chemicals, etc, I practice natural beekeeping.
My honey is a mix of wildflower, clover, alfalfa, blueberry (whatever is growing on the farm)
Bees travel up to 2 miles away to look for nectar....we usually have plenty blooming right here, though.
Bees need a water source for drinking....we have a pond.
My hives are English Garden Hives....purchased through Brushy Mountain Bee Farms (online).
I purchase my bees locally from Bjorn Apiaries.
I love my girls!!!
Ok, have to get buzzy and clean the house....it's raining!!!
- Just An Ordinary Day
It seems as though we have skipped over Autumn and gone right to Winter!Temperatures never left the 40's yesterday,and nighttime lows are in the 30's.Brrrrrrrr..... We had a peaceful weekend at home with our animals.Chores, cooking and knitting...
- Winterizing Hives
We've had a week of unseasonably warm temperatures.An occasional frigid night reminds us, though,that winter is just around the corner.And this reminder means that time is running out forfinishing Autumn's chore list. The last of the extra chores...
- To Bee Or Not To Bee
Whew! Internet connection problems almost made it so that I would NOT BEE today!! Sorry so late with the posting. The bugs are all worked out. Now on to the REAL bugs!.....Bees, that is Yesterday's temperate weather gave Hubbs...
- Adventures In Beekeeping
Imagine this....you are driving down the interstate in your Honda Element with at least 100 loose bees buzzing around the inside of the vehicle. Scary? Not really. Yesterday I drove about an hour and a half to an apiary. After attending a seminar on Sustainable...
- Honey Harvest...the Process
Mike and Bev....ready to go to work on the hives. The proper attire is a must for this job. Thanks to these great suits we handled several hives (and hundreds of thousands of bees) with no stings! Mike getting ready to "smoke" the bees. The smoke has...