Search:

I may actually be harvesting piecemeal, so this is great to know. Thanks, Mike.

Thanks, AR. Would freezing be necessary with chunk or cut-comb honey?

Is it advisable to freeze honey frames to kill off any pests before extracting, or does a fine mesh strainer make that all moot? I have been advised to freeze all frames after extracting just to be...

Yes, that's been my experience, unless the day will be calm in the following 4 hours. If a storm or other weather is brewing, is likely to rain, or especially windy, they definitely have more...

Interesting! I'm going to find out. I suspect the Corex traps might be very effective ... OR, if not DE perhaps filling them with a little bit of oil instead would work (and sealing with Crisco)....

Yeah, the Crisco didn't seem to be slowing down the larvae any. I'll switch to vegetable oil on those inserts. I'm gonna see how the corex and DVD case traps work out (and my "Sonny Mel" traps).

Suddenly my hives are under Small Hive Beetle attack. I am deploying everything I know and have at my disposal, chemical-free. I took my screened bottom board inserts, coated the inserts heavily with...

Fabulous, thanks!

Thanks, David. So clean wax would be only honey comb, and used in candles, cosmetics, DIY foundation, etc.?

Beeman, I'm getting ready to deploy diatemaceous earth after a recent sliming of 5 nucs. How heavy should the application be? Would DE hurt insect-eating nematodes that could wipe these pupating...

I just endured my first Small Hive Beetle attack. It took out 5 of my nucs in no time. I'm deploying 3 different types of homemade traps, insect-eating nematodes in the ground around the hives, and a...

Is there anything about keeping bees in nucs that keep the mite levels down? My mite counts on my double-stacked nuc boxes were lower %-wise last summer than my standard deeps. Or was it luck of the...

My honey here is mainly tulip poplar and is chock full of pollen. My honey last year crystallized at the drop of a hat once the house hit 67 degrees (I can't stand a hot house at night). I'm adding a...

I simply stack up the supers outside with frames and combs, and unimpeded air flow prevents the problem. Wax moths hate air flow, and sun. It's worked for me. I just used two 1x2's inbetween each box...

Thanks, heaflaw!

What equipment is used and how is this done, heaflaw? Are there any other manipulations we should do with spare combs and frames that are 1-3 years old to make sure we are putting in disease-free...

I'm getting ready to do this today. But just in case I overlook a queen (I don't want to lose any of them in my small apiary), I'm going to put a queen excluder on top of the hive getting the bee...

I've had both good and bad experiences, and started with USDA Russians in 2011. I requeened my original hive that following August with another new "pure bred" Russian queen in the split. They were...

I do not use foundation. I let the bees draw out comb cells the size they need to at the time. When they decide they need less drone cells, will they tear down those cells and revert them to worker...

Hey, Michael, a professor at a recent meeting told us that once the nectar flow begins it is always 8 weeks regardless of if the flow is early, late or right on time. Has this been your experience?

Even though it's been cold and wet lately, the flow has begun here in Charlotte, NC. Suddenly bees are flying in and out with a determined purpose, unrelenting, and the smell of pungent nectar and...

Is it okay to make splits and checkerboard at 55 degrees F, or rather, when the bees are clustered? Or is this a really bad idea? Should the temp for splits always be when they are de-clustered (and...

Oh, fabulous. I forgot that they do that! (I watched those girls take grass out of extra entrances one blade at a time the other day.)

I just built my first 4-chambered Queen Castle that's the size of a regular deep (with only a circular saw to boot :-) ). I made my entrance holes 13/16 ", but am worried about robbing. Is that too...

What substitute do you use and why that particular type. How does one determine what is the best substitute, and why would you use a sub if you can buy a regional / local pollen (I've never...