Search:

I have purchased various trees for my acreage in the past from Lawyer Nursery (www.lawyernursery.com). They offer four species of linden (basswood)...

I made some screened bottom boards using pressure-treated plywood. Should I coat them with a varnish or polyurethane (sort of defeats the purpose of using treated wood) so that the bees don't come...

It's been dry here for about a month, but just rained about 2-3 inches last night (edges of Gustav). Any ideas how long it will be until the nectar flow increases?

There are numerous ant nests within about 15 feet of the three hives in my little apiary. The ants are always lurking about, trying to find a way into the hives, especially if I have the top cover...

I had three colonies that died over the winter (cluster was just inches from stores on the same frame!). Do I need to clean the dead bees out of the cells (I brushed off the bees clinging on the...

I cut some Plasticell foundation from Dadant into 3/4" starter strips which I stapled into the frames. So far, every comb they have drawn out has been straight. Unfortunately, they weren't very...

Our local elevator/feed mill sells various kinds of clover seed, including what they call "yellow blossom" which is yellow sweet clover (Melilotus officinalis). They don't sell white sweet clover. ...

I think the impact of honeybees on carbon dioxide removal is minimal, aside from the fact that many plants won't propagate if pollination doesn't occur. As Knadai mentioned, carbon is removed from...

AndrewSchwab: Honey will absorb the moisture from the air. (there is a word for that but I forget).

The word is hygroscopic. Sometimes 'hydroscopic' is used, but this word isn't found in many...

"the adult varroa mites that weren't physically removed will find new hosts and to try to start the cycle again"

I was afraid of that. Next time, I'll remove the drone brood, mites and all. At...

I haven't had much luck getting good worker brood from starter strips. One frame was about 100% drone comb - I froze that one. These that I scraped were about 50/50. I left the worker brood intact...

I checked my hives last night and scratched the tops off of any drone brood I saw - most cells had no mites and I saw as many as four in some - and returned the frames to the hives. Should I have...

Hobie, do you do anything to clean the extractor after you let the girls clean it out? I always think of my bees as being very sanitary little critters, but flies will often help themselves to free...

I don't have much choice: I am 1600 miles away for 2 weeks at my daughter's wedding and won't be back home until this Saturday. When we return, I suspect my wife will have a big list of things to...

Extract honey. Extra supers couldn't hurt.

I'll do both when I have time. Thanks, David

My daughter is getting married in a week and we have been so busy getting things ready for everything that I have been able to check my two hives only twice this year. At the first inspection, just...

I recommend dandelions and clover for your lawn.

I thought 'certified organic' meant one uses no chemicals at all, or is it just man-made chemicals that you can't use? What do you consider a 'soft' chemical?

"I thought about super-gluing a small metal disc to the queen, like the numbering disc, and using a metal detector to find her."

If you choose the right metal, you could catch her easily with a...

My neighbors alerted me to a swarm in their woods which is several hundred yards from my two hives. I cut the branch off with the swarm on it this morning (cool temperature, ~ 40 degrees) and...

When the bees build a queen cell, either for swarming or supercedure, does the queen lay the egg in it, or do the bees put the egg (or larva?) in the cell? Or can it occur either way?

Thanks.
...

<How should I proceed to maximize the effort>

I would think you would want to minimize the effort to make it as easy as possible. If you confirm that you really want to maximize the effort, I'm...

I built a few 3" deep "extra shallow" 8-frame boxes. One of these combines with a medium to make a deep. These are to help me transition from 10-frame deeps to 8-frame mediums. With these, I have...

Our season has been a bit crazy here in the north. The maples began blooming at the end of March, then it got cold with snow and rain for a few weeks. Now it has gotten warm and the dandelions have...

I just recently constructed some 8-frame medium boxes using 3/4" plywood, which actually is a tad under 3/4" thick. The outer width is 14". Last night I put together a bunch of Brushy Mountain...