Since we’ve had some unseasonably warm days, many of you are asking when to remove quilt boxes and feeders. Others want to know what to do with all the bees in the candy boards and when you should reverse boxes. Let’s look at the good news first. The fact that it’s February and you’re wondering […] Read more
In simplest terms, a split is made by dividing an existing colony into two or more parts. Many variations exist. In fact, the methods of making splits—and the reasons for making them—are as varied as the beekeepers who do them. The most common reasons for making splits are to: While there are many different ways […] Read more
Saturday February 2 was Groundhog Day, one of my favorite celebrations. First thing I did was look out my window to see a bleak and dreary northwest morning. I announced to my husband that spring was just around the corner because that is the way the groundhog thing works—opposite of what you might think. If […] 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
Yesterday I pulled the screened bottom board out of my top bar hive and dumped it. What seemed like an incredible number of moldy bees mixed with pollen and comb dropped heavily to the ground. It made a wet thud, like a saturated mop hitting the deck. Cleaning the unappetizing stew of deadlings off the […] Read more
In the last couple years I have been re-thinking my position on the spring reversal of brood boxes. If you are not familiar with this maneuver, it means switching the position of the brood boxes such that you move the brood nest to the lowest point in the hive. Several reasons are often given for […] Read more