Whenever Seattle undercover beepeeker Tracey Bryne points her camera, she turns up fascinating sights. Today, she sent photos of her neighbors’ bee hive. She explains: “For the past couple years, they’ve had bees move into their empty hive in the spring. This year, the swarm came, settled, flew in and out of the hive, and […] Read more
The photo of a honey bee secreting wax caused quite a stir because it is a phenomenon we don’t often see. Bees secreting wax usually stay close to where it will be used and they tend to move little during the process. Secreting beeswax is such an energy-intensive endeavor that each bee conserves as much […] Read more
Beekeepers who do not use fume boards or bee escapes to remove bees from their honey supers often brush the bees from each frame before extracting. This works if the brush has long, soft bristles and if the bees are flicked off the frames rather than scrubbed. It’s all in the wrist—several quick flicks and […] Read more
It doesn’t take long to discover that brood combs can turn dark as night after just one season while honey combs stay light for many years. What causes this difference? Several reasons are usually given for this phenomenon, but in truth, it is probably a combination of all them that causes brood comb to darken […] Read more
Contrary to popular hearsay, freezing will kill all life stages of both the greater wax moth (Galleria mellonella) and the lesser wax moth (Achroia grisella). To kill the moths, you must monitor both time and temperature. For example, the Mid-Altantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium (MAAREC) publishes the following guidelines to kill both species of […] Read more
Normally, I do not extract any of my honey. In fact, the reason I keep my own bees is so that I can have a steady supply of comb honey. On those occasions when I need some liquid honey for a recipe, I just gather the drips that accumulate under the comb in my honey […] Read more
One of the most amazing things about honeycomb is the angle of the cells. At first the cell walls appear to be perpendicular to the foundation, but they are not. From the base of the cell, each cell lifts between 9 and 14 degrees toward the open end. That is, there is a 9-14 degree […] Read more