Another exciting day of beekeeping! We had a swarm from Hive 1.
This is the 2nd swarm from that particular hive within the past 2 weeks.
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| The Swarm is the brown cluster near the top of the tree. |
Showing posts with label Honeybees. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Honeybees. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Red Maples and Ordering New Hardware for the Hives
We are adding 4 new bee hives this Spring, so we ordered new hive bodies today from Mann Lake. This is our first order with them, so I hope all goes well. They offer free shipping (over $100) and that's a good thing!
Last season, we ordered these bottom boards from GreenBeeHives.com and we have been quite pleased.
We ordered 2 more of them today.
This first day of March is bringing a lot of inspiration!
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Oconee Hive Scale Project
As we are mid-way through our first winter as beekeepers, I am finding that the winter is somewhat boring. So far, we have had an unusually long and cold winter with temps dropping into single digits. We have insulated our hives, although some of the "old-timers" say that isn't necessary. My goal is to keep these ladies alive until spring. We are almost 1/2 of the way through winter and as of today, all of our hives are alive.
Our bees are coming out on days when the temperature gets above 55 degrees. Today, they were out-and-about. Husband saw one bloom on our red maple tree. I've been told that signals the beginning of nectar flow, but the Groundhog says 6 more weeks of winter.
Our beekeeping club, Oconee County Beekeeping Association, had the opportunity to participate in a hive scale project. Back in October, they asked for folks who would be interested in having their hives "host" the project. There were several volunteers, so the Board of Directors from the club visited all of the sites and made a selection. We are very pleased to announce that our hives were selected. We live pretty much in the center of our county, have a fenced yard, and it's easy to find us, so I think that's why we were selected.
Last Saturday, 1/25/2014, the Hive Scale Project Engineer and several members of our beekeeping club came over for the installation. It was a very cold, but exciting day. Husband and I created a video explaining how the hive scale is set up on our Hive 1. It is located below. I've also added a live link to the Oconee Hive Scale Project below.
If you are interested in more details about the overall NASA project, these websites provide excellent information:
http://beeinformed.org
http://honeybeenet.gsfc.nasa.gov
Our bees are coming out on days when the temperature gets above 55 degrees. Today, they were out-and-about. Husband saw one bloom on our red maple tree. I've been told that signals the beginning of nectar flow, but the Groundhog says 6 more weeks of winter.
Our beekeeping club, Oconee County Beekeeping Association, had the opportunity to participate in a hive scale project. Back in October, they asked for folks who would be interested in having their hives "host" the project. There were several volunteers, so the Board of Directors from the club visited all of the sites and made a selection. We are very pleased to announce that our hives were selected. We live pretty much in the center of our county, have a fenced yard, and it's easy to find us, so I think that's why we were selected.
Last Saturday, 1/25/2014, the Hive Scale Project Engineer and several members of our beekeeping club came over for the installation. It was a very cold, but exciting day. Husband and I created a video explaining how the hive scale is set up on our Hive 1. It is located below. I've also added a live link to the Oconee Hive Scale Project below.
If you are interested in more details about the overall NASA project, these websites provide excellent information:
http://beeinformed.org
http://honeybeenet.gsfc.nasa.gov
Monday, December 16, 2013
Busy December Bees
I'm a little surprised by the how busy the bees are in December. The temperature is 56.7 degrees and it is a beautiful sunny Monday. Busy, Busy Bees...
Friday, April 19, 2013
Looking for a Queen
On Sunday, April 7, one week and one day after installing my first package of bees, I opened the hive to see how things were progressing. Here's a video of that day's adventure in beekeeping:
Looking for a Queen
It was a very distressing and disturbing time as I did not expect to see the Queen box and a clump of burr comb the size of a dinner plate on the bottom of my hive. I ended up closing the hive and leaving the "mess" in there.
The following week, I consulted with everybody I could think of who might be able to guide me in finding a solution. All of the answers, except one, were "Wow! I've never heard of that before!".
My husband and I went to Carolina Bee Company in Travelers Rest last Saturday to buy a couple of deep body hives. While there, I talked to one of the owners about my dilemma and he said, "That burr comb must come out." So, when we returned home on Saturday afternoon, I donned by bee suit and veil AND gloves (which I don't normally wear) and went in and removed all of the "mess" that I had left during my previous "visit" to the hive.
The good news is...I finally met the Queen! And, as it stands today, I am working for the Queen. I knew that the worker bees (and Drones) existed for the Queen, but I didn't realize the level of my employment to her until Saturday.
Humbly Serving Her Highness,
~ Donna
Looking for a Queen
It was a very distressing and disturbing time as I did not expect to see the Queen box and a clump of burr comb the size of a dinner plate on the bottom of my hive. I ended up closing the hive and leaving the "mess" in there.
The following week, I consulted with everybody I could think of who might be able to guide me in finding a solution. All of the answers, except one, were "Wow! I've never heard of that before!".
My husband and I went to Carolina Bee Company in Travelers Rest last Saturday to buy a couple of deep body hives. While there, I talked to one of the owners about my dilemma and he said, "That burr comb must come out." So, when we returned home on Saturday afternoon, I donned by bee suit and veil AND gloves (which I don't normally wear) and went in and removed all of the "mess" that I had left during my previous "visit" to the hive.
The good news is...I finally met the Queen! And, as it stands today, I am working for the Queen. I knew that the worker bees (and Drones) existed for the Queen, but I didn't realize the level of my employment to her until Saturday.
Humbly Serving Her Highness,
~ Donna
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Friday, March 29, 2013
Countdown to Bee Day!
Wow! How the time has flown! When I was dreaming of becoming a beekeeper, it seemed like something that I would do "in the future". Well, the future is almost here. Hubby and I attended our small town's Christmas parade back in early December. Our local beekeepers club had a float in the parade and club members were handing out fliers for their upcoming January beekeeper training. Who knew?! Training for learning about beekeeping?!
We began the course in January and met for 3 or 4 Saturdays for intense training. All along, we knew that the SC State Certification required a test and a practicum within a year of passing the test. The instructors gave out lots of papers, notes, a BOOK (very important, the BOOK), we watched videos about beekeeping, etc. When test day came, I had already planned a shopping / lunch day with friends. Hubby encouraged me to come back early so that we could review our materials one more time before testing. Did I mention that I'm not much for listening? I returned from shopping about 20 minutes before time to go and test. To summarize, hubby passed the test and I failed (one point shy of the minimum score), and I did NOT pass.
Our club held it's March meeting a couple of weeks ago. At the meeting, I learned that about 3/4 of the class didn't pass. Guess what ~ the ones who didn't pass, didn't read the BOOK. Yes, that BOOK! Our State Beekeeping Board is reviewing the class content and the test. An "embellishment" class was held this past Saturday for those of us who failed. I was out of town on business, so I didn't attend, BUT I am now reading the BOOK.
We began the course in January and met for 3 or 4 Saturdays for intense training. All along, we knew that the SC State Certification required a test and a practicum within a year of passing the test. The instructors gave out lots of papers, notes, a BOOK (very important, the BOOK), we watched videos about beekeeping, etc. When test day came, I had already planned a shopping / lunch day with friends. Hubby encouraged me to come back early so that we could review our materials one more time before testing. Did I mention that I'm not much for listening? I returned from shopping about 20 minutes before time to go and test. To summarize, hubby passed the test and I failed (one point shy of the minimum score), and I did NOT pass.
Our club held it's March meeting a couple of weeks ago. At the meeting, I learned that about 3/4 of the class didn't pass. Guess what ~ the ones who didn't pass, didn't read the BOOK. Yes, that BOOK! Our State Beekeeping Board is reviewing the class content and the test. An "embellishment" class was held this past Saturday for those of us who failed. I was out of town on business, so I didn't attend, BUT I am now reading the BOOK.
Monday, January 28, 2013
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