Years ago, square sections of comb honey in fragrant basswood boxes were everywhere. I adored the honey, the boxes, the pristine little combs. But as the years rolled by, the square sections disappeared and were replaced by extracted honey in bottles that squeeze like ketchup and jars shaped like preadolescent bears. I never quite understood […] Read more
If you’ve got a lot of bee boxes to paint, you can make it easier by stringing them on a board suspended between two saw horses, chairs, or whatever is handy. The job goes fast because you can stand in one place and just roll the supers around the board as you paint. You can […] Read more
Help! My supers are still empty! Many beekeepers are dismayed to find their supers are empty at the end of the season. They want to know what they did wrong and how to encourage the bees to get to work. In the past I’ve shared ideas that I’ve heard about or tried myself. Now I’m […] Read more
If you don’t use smoke, how do you avoid squishing bees when replacing supers? I learned this technique from another beekeeper. We worked together teaching beekeeping at a state prison where things like matches and lighters were hard to come by. Rather than going through the hassle of getting permission to light a fire, we […] Read more
eke (eek) 1. interj. The expression one uses when standing on a kitchen chair looking down at a mouse. (Or is that “eeeeeek!“?) 2. v. to supplement, increase, add to, or augment; now commonly used with “out.” “He eked out his living selling honey.” 3. n. A beekeeper term for a spacer rim or a […] Read more
Here’s another interesting question. A reader asked if each box in a hive should have the same number of frames in order to maximize both mite drop and ventilation. In other words, if you use nine frames in the brood box, should you also use nine in the honey supers in order to align the […] Read more
This is one of the most confusing words for beginning beekeepers. It has been used incorrectly by so many beekeepers for so long that the meaning has actually changed. English is like that; once incorrect usage overwhelms correct usage, there is no turning back. Eventually, proper usage is determined by the majority . . . […] Read more