Here is an update of a previous post: my five favorite ventilation aids for a summer beehive. After experimenting for another year, I have dropped the ventilation eke from my favorites and replaced it with a ventilated gabled roof. The ventilated gabled roof is more efficient in my opinion, and assures a nice dry hive […] Read more
The overnight split is a good choice if you are unable to find your queen but you want to know where she is after the split is complete. The downside is that it takes two days to complete. Here are the basic steps: Prepare a new brood box to hold the split. The new brood […] Read more
Are birds bugging your bees, swooping down for a meal every chance they get? Several beekeepers have mentioned persistent birds that have moved right into the cafeteria, so to speak, picking bees off the virtual conveyor belt that travels in and out of the hive. My advice is not to worry. Here in North America, […] Read more
I dearly want to poke this guy in the stomach with his own hive tool, over and over again until light dawns in his pea brain . . . Yesterday I wrote about the new beekeeper whose rip-roaring hive was throwing swarms like tantrums—one right after another. Using sound beekeeping principles she had raised a […] Read more
Hey Rusty, I started my first hive last year in early May from a swarm given to me by a local beekeeper. I did not harvest any honey, and I had to re-queen in October. Following your advice (quilt box, follower boards, HopGuard, etc.) I successfully overwintered the hive. We had a warm, early spring […] Read more
The Pacific waterleaf, Hydrophyllum tenuipes, is a northwest native plant that grows in shaded, moist forestland. Spreading by underground rhizomes, it often covers large areas and gives the ground a soft and undulating appearance. The flowers appear in April and May and are usually white with pink filaments, but in certain areas such as the […] Read more
It is 45°C (113°F) outside, so we wax-dip foundation in the shed until 11:00 and then take our places alongside the 72-frame radial extractor. We move honey supers to the warming room to prepare them for extraction (warm honey runs faster), but that hardly seems necessary when the heat’s on high outside. It’s a three-person […] Read more