Search:

Have quite a bit of old pine logs. Any issue using this pine for boxes? Will be chewed with some small holes. Thoughts?

An artificial swarm is where you "swarm" a colony to let bees go through the natural process of reproduction. This is done to work with honeybees natural inclinations rather than "fighting" the...

We just have a difference in terminology. Artificial swarming is when the queen is taken with the split, leaving the other half queenless. This is opposed to a queenless split where a cell or...

Greg I had kept bees there since I was 10yrs old. It was my home yard I wasn't moving away. Been there for 30 yrs or so in 2016. Like I said I changed what I was doing. If you can't flex and...

For anyone interested in my honey production method it can be found in Richard Taylor's book, The Comb Honey Book. It goes perfectly hand in hand with mel's OTS method. The chapter (Ch. 11) is...

From 2000 to 2016 I was hard bond style TF along with small cell methods. In 2016 enter commercial yard down the road from my main mating yard. Hard bond TF doesn't work well in this situation. I...

This is my ramblings on how TF works in the real world:


Advise for new beekeepers:

1. Choose hive type
2.Understand honeybee life cycles
3.understand varroa life cycle
4.knowledge of bee...

Just chatted with Tucka Saville ( she works at French hill apiaries for M. Palmer as a queen catcher). She uses the modified warre hives already. Lives 30 minutes north of me and has sourced me...

Seriously if I were to try them I'd probably go for it. I would require probably 100 boxes straight off. With at least another 100- 200 after. That's what I'd be looking at for initial conversion.

I think Sam's shallow warre type hive is a great alternative to langstroth. The shallow boxes are good for his queen rearing. Personally I'd use a 1x8 or 1x10 depth box if honey production was my...

Instead of a 4×4, why not winter in 8 frame deeps? You can leave division board feeder in to take up a comb if neccessary. Maybe a rim for sugar blocks if needed.

For those who follow Lusby's small cell methods here is another study:

http://english.resistantbees.es/?p=228

Hi all, I've used gallon jar and paint can feeders for years now. Think I'm tired of this method of feeding I just hate hauling all the empty hive bodies along with the feeders. Don't get me wrong...

Something to remember is even if you leave a super it doesn't necessarily mean you have enough honey to winter them on. I would make sure there is at least 6 frames of honey in your second deep...

I just scrape them down. I have an old crock pot with wax and a mini paint roller. Put thin coat on the foundation and your done. Try to avoid putting wax on too heavy so that it fills the cell base.

Are the honey supers foundation?

I look at it this way. Winter lets you know if:

You have well fed colonies.
Healthy, disease free bees.

Winter in itself doesn't hurt bees except by direct exposure. It mostly lets you know...

One more pic I missed.

Just a bit of follow up on this thread. Took some pics of this being done. First pic is three bars placed in strong single. Second is one of the combs being drawn out. I use a card board template...

Thanks Ruthiesbees my tbh combs are about the same as yours. Was figuring about 1lb per 100 lbs so you seem to be right on.

Crafter I have steam processing available along with solar wax melting...

Just as the title says. Anyone have a rough idea on amount of wax harvested per 100 pounds of honeycomb (crush and strain) ? Trying to figure rough wax profit for 50 tbh’s.

I do exactly as you say. My top bar are the same length as langstroth top bar. I have a card board template I place over the combs drawn in the Lang hive I use to cut the combs to proper shape if...

Anyone have a price range for stocked 4 way quad mating nucs? Would include bb, 16 half frames, duck cloth inner cover, telescoping outer cover. 2 queens on each side w/ brood, solid removable...

Just saw this product: https://www.broodsafe.com
What do you guys think about this?

Here’s a pic of the comfort colony from above. Key things to note is I have changed to a 9 frame per box broodnest. Also frame 9 was just added as it was a division board feeder. These bees are...