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PatBeek,
I'm a bit further north of you (St. Augustine) but I would enjoy trading advice and information with other natural beekeepers. My family has been keeping bees since the 1950's and has never...

Rak,
That may be your experience, but when it comes to bees, there are no absolutes. Period. I have been keeping bees for multiple decades now and have seen many things happen in one season that...

Nirvanafan,
Space or no space, you can't supress 50 million years of instinctual behaviour. I have had hives that are 2 deep, checkerboarded frames in the bottom deep and only 6 drawn frames in the...

Nirvanafan,
You say your bees are doing great and that there is is a tight brood pattern every time you check? Bees do not supercede a strong laying queen unless there is something wrong with her...

That is a queen cell and your bees will swarm unless you take preventitive measures, i.e., give them more room or split. There does not have to be multiple cells and placement of these cells on...

Lauri,
I have found "mutt" queens to be far superior to most "pure breds", when you allow your queens to mate with local drones most of the time the result is a unique genetic line well suited to...

The swarm a few weeks ago was the prime swarm, you'll have a few cast swarms later in the season (maybe). When the prime swarm leaves, they take the old queen, the other swarms leave with a virgin;...

Its the Maple.

Theres no such thing as a mite or disease resistant bee. There are bees with hygenic behavior, if there was a such thing as a resistant bee, my life would be a walk in the clouds.

Third generation beekeeper. Family tradition.

I live in N.E. Florida, not real cold in winter, usually, we get 80 deg. days in Jan. sometimes. So hives stay pretty active year 'round, when late Feb. early Mar. rolls around, better split 'em or...

Sounds a bit like hygenic behavior to me, but I have been wrong. What type of bees are they? Some hygenics will pull infected larva out no matter how few actual bees are in the hive.

Florida blackberry honey is my fave. Very light color, not too sweet with a fruity undertone that, in my opinion, can't be beat. 'Course I may be a bit biased towards my bees too.

That sounds an awful lot like EFB (european foul brood), it has a foul odor associated with it and will pass the ropy test every time. Treatment options are basically the same as AFB. But I'm no...

Caught 2 swarms this year that did the exact same thing. Hard to tell just what they're thinking when they up and leave like that. Maybe you missed the queen, a swarm I captured last year was...

Hi Islandgirl,
I have found that keeping a healthy colony is the best defense against just about anything the bees will encounter. If your hive is strong, they will keep the SHB at bay, you will...

Hello Jake,
I don't live in Haiti but I do live in Fl., we dont see a whole lot of cold weather here, average temps are usually in the 80's, with the occasional frost. I know haiti is pretty balmy...

Virginia,
You live in a hotbed for Africanized Honeybees, chances are even if you object, the nest site will probably be destroyed, it's a real shame but it's true. Most City or County officials...

Hangin' with the Family.

Not too late at all, I live in N.E. FL., and continue doing splits until mid Aug.. It usually doesn't get cool here until around Dec., you have plenty of time to get a colony going. Good luck!

Hi Milena,
My girls are very docile in the evening as well (I run 8 frames, not TBH), although you can't really be sure, even though my bees are really mellow, they have their days, and nights. I...

MeriB,
Thats a great approach to your beekeeping, everything and every hive is different, what will work for you will not work for others and vice/versa, I myself have had wonderful results with...

I never use a pollen substitute, not to say they don't have their place, I have just never felt the need. Some people swear by it, everyone's different what works for one will not work for another,...

If there isn't a strong nectar flow, I would feed them untill things pick up again. I live in N.E. FL. and we have two major flows, we're in one now (Mar.- June), and again in Aug. that lasts untill...

I'm not sure if Cedar is toxic to bees, but it seems I remember my grandfather telling me way back when that bees never nested in cedar, must've been for a reason. I personally don't know though....