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I have two hives that dies this winter and I am going to purchase two 5-frame nuc's. I am going to clean up the old hives a little and install the nuc's into the old fully built-out hives. Any...

I have used a pressure washer too, worked well. The bees built the frames right out again.

The spring flow for the Chicago area starts in the beginning of May. Here is a graph from last year.
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I have two hives located about 40 yards from our pool. I have never had any issues, but do have some thoughts. I never leave items in the pool that the bees can use to access the water. So, things...

I started with a single hive four years ago and went to two hives for the last three year, without a loss until this winter. Lost both hives....dang!

stiff goldenrod is very pretty, and the bees love it. I have some planted in my yard. I dug a little from a field and planted it. It took right away.

For me, we definitely had a drought, but it did not seem to effect me too much. The rain, although limited seemed to occur at the right times.

Also, this is just the measurements from a single...

Light diamonds represent harvest dates.

http://home.comcast.net/~khaas15/Hive%20Gain.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~khaas15/Hive Gain.jpg

Here is my gain for 2012.

Ruthz, Odd enough I have experienced the same thing this year. I went to clean out the bottom of my hives the other day and swiped out all the dead bees in my first hive with a long stick. Out...

If you have the ability to weigh (which it seems by your post you do) you should have a target weight that you should be at before going into winter. For me, in the Chicago area, it's a minimum of...

Heck, I once came back from Jamaica with some logwood honey that was in my checked baggage. When I got to customs they told me that if the honey contained any comb it would be confiscated. They...

What time of year does this vine bloom? I am interested in what it is.

I wouldn't worry about the bees. They are interested in one thing, the flowers on the vine and shouldn't upset you or...

I have noticed when checking my bottom board that some of the mites are not quite dark red in color. Instead, a few are grayish or light brown. They are still alive, moving around on the bottom...

Take a 2 liter bottle of pop, cut the top off about two inches down. Fill the lower part with a bananna peel, squirt of honey, and about a cup of water. Put the top back on but upside down, to make...

Great job!

I have never seen a bee on Queen Annes Lace, however I've heard that they will work it in very tough times.

I see native sunflower, bee balm, aster, trefoil (I think),...

squarepeg, I started the spring with what I would consider a fairly weak hive. This hive swarmed last year in July (pretty late in my area) and was decimated by mites. I treated with MAQS and had a...

I tell my my hive scale. Check out the flow for me this year. It seems good and has not really stopped all summer.

http://home.comcast.net/~khaas15/Weight.pdf

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goldenrod is huge for us in N. Illinois. The bees work it hard and the hives start to really stink when it blooms. I get a surplus of at least a super or more in the fall, depending on the...

Basswood/Linden trees are known for producing minty honey. I bet you have a lot of them around you.

MJuric - I got my scale off ebay from a guy who lived in the area. He had four for sale, I purchased two for $20 each. I put a little elbow grease into them and they work great.

Jim Lyon, It's...

My hive is sitting on a platform scale. I weigh it every evening around the same time. I also adjust when I harvest or add supers so graph does reflect an accurate picture of the total weight gain...

the doc, the rain has helped in my opinion. You can see some "flat spots" in the graph that were very dry periods. It seemed that immediately after a rain the hive would start to gain weight again....