Cleaning used frames is one of those mind-numbing chores that ranks with weeding, ironing shirts, and washing dishes. When I pull old frames from a hive, I put them somewhere—temporarily—until I can get to them. Such temporary placement evolves into years because almost anything else gets priority. When—and if—I eventually get around to it, I […] Read more
Five years ago I wrote a post about what beekeepers burn in their smokers. Earlier today, Bill Reynolds of Minnesota added a comment to that post, recommending adding a handful of green grass to a fast-burning smoker to cool down the smoke and avoid singeing wings. Good point. When I re-read my post, I was […] Read more
Honey bees always surprise me. Two weeks ago, after my swarm in a tree moved into a bait hive, I noticed a grapefruit-size cluster beneath the hive stand. The vast majority of the swarm had gone inside, but this one ball of bees was hanging from the screened bottom board. It was hard to get […] Read more
Nocturnal pollination is something I seldom think about, but this fascinating article by Paul Manning at Poky Ecology describes a host of nighttime pollinators in lowbush blueberry. Really, I had no idea how busy a berry bush in the dark could be. In a series of experiments, researchers found that as much as one-third of […] Read more
Since I’ve written many posts about Taranov splits, I’m not going to belabor the whys and hows. Still, I’m always amazed that it works so well. For me, it is the best way to split into non-compatible equipment. In this case, I was splitting a top-bar hive into a Langstroth. I had thought this hive […] Read more
One of my favorite blogs, TrogTrogBlog, is written by Christopher Wren, a beekeeper and nature photographer living in northern England. Anyone who manages to take photos of wild bees has my immediate attention, but Christopher is especially talented. He says: My interest in bees began seriously when I started keeping honey bees three years ago […] Read more
Why do people insist that honey is vomit when observation says otherwise? Seriously, does it look like vomit? Smell like vomit? Taste or feel like vomit? Animals don’t build storage units for vomit, they don’t save it for winter meals, and they don’t rob each other of it. My guess, although I’ve never experimented, is […] Read more