Beekeepers keep feed close to the spring broodnest, so that the bees are encouraged to use it. Broodnest temperature must be maintained at 92-94 F. Although feeders are at the top or sides of the broodnest and at therefore at lower temperatures, the temperature is still raised enough to speed fermentation. 2:1 ferments slowly if at all, but 1:1 doesn’t seem to last a week at hivetop temperatures. If the bees are consuming 1:1 fast enough, fermentation is not an issue. Ho

Rain dearth exists also in other areas but is often ignored in beekeeping manuals, whereas drought dearth is usually discussed. In Western Washington, bees experience far more days of rain dearth than drought dearth. In fact, in Western Washington, drought dearth is often broken up by opportune rain showers reinvigorating the nectar-producing summer blooms. Rain dearth has the greatest impact on honey bee management when it slows hive population buildup before a major flow. R

A nuc should contain a queen and at least 2 frames brood, about 2 frames honey and pollen stores, and the 5th frame is supplier’s choice, possibly empty, even blank without drawn comb. There should be enough bees to cover or work all frames. If you have received a substandard nuc, one containing fewer bees or resources, boost and protect that colony to prevent its failure. If you have other healthy hives or another well-stocked nuc that can spare even a little brood and

With various kinds of nucs (cardboard, plastic, wood), it is not always clear which openings are for ventilation and which are entrances. Before placing a nuc in vehicle, be sure all entrances are closed and the ventilation openings are not blocked. Ask for help from the supplier if you are not sure.

With various kinds of nucs (cardboard, plastic, wood), it is not always clear which openings are for ventilation and which are entrances. Before placing a nuc in vehicle, be sure all entrances are closed and the ventilation openings are not blocked. Ask for help from the supplier if you are not sure.

Although you should ask all possible questions BEFORE the pickup time, do not leave with the nuc or package without asking about the release of the queen. Unless you are sure the queen has been already released, you need to know how to release the queen if she is still caged. Usually, the queen is slowly released as bees remove a candy plug. However, when a queen is placed in the nuc or package, the candy plug may not be exposed until a tape or a cap or some procedure is perf

Bees will be flying around the nucs and packages when you go to pickup. Some may have escaped from the packages and nucs, but also, other local bees will be scouting out the nucs and packages. Because of this, do not send a friend with a passenger car to pick up your nucs or packages unless s/he knows beekeeping. You probably want to take your veil and/or jacket with you to pick up your bees, particularly if you will spend some time there talking with the supplier.

If a beekeeper sees anything odd about brood or the bees in a hive, s/he may leave the hive tool used to inspect that hive on the inner cover before putting the outer cover back on. The next time opening that hive, the beekeeper is reminded that this is the hive under suspicion and is reminded not to use any other hive tool in that hive. Dedicated hive tools are an important strategy to avoid cross contamination of hives if a disease , particularly of the broodnest, might be

The solutio This solution requires setup and the materials are expensive but once this type of hive stand is installed, the adjustment with a pipe wrench is easy. The 4x4 timbers rest on elevated post brackets. The screw of the 2-piece bracket inserted into each deck pier block turns easily (surprisingly!) with the pipe wrench in either direction to raise or lower each corner of the hive stand as needed. The pipe wrench is in turning position under the hive in the second pict

Not just hive tools, but the queen catchers, scissors, tape rolls (duct, painters, etc.), carpenter shims for leveling hives, pens & markers and markers, fuel lighter, etc. The cordura fabric bucket caddy lasts much longer than plastic and the inside pockets protect bendable and breakable items from abuse they might experience in outside pockets.

2nd. edition, Macolm Sanford & Richard Bonney by listing the historical discoveries by date below. Look how far we have come! 1586 queen is female! 1609 drones are male! 1750 pollen is male part of flowers! 1792 drones mate with queens! 1845 drones are parthenogenic offspring! BTW, this is my recommendation for a beekeeping beginner's book.

The first use of beeswax that comes to mind for most people is candlemaking and sculpting in wax. Next, one might think of the batik dyeing ("resist dye") method of introducing patterns into fabrics. A sculptor or art enthusiast may think of the more complicated "lost wax" method to fashion the molds used for the casting of materials more durable than wax. Another valued art product relying on wax was the encaustic portrait, popular in ancient Egypt. Here's such a port

The demand for beeswax in personal care and pharmaceutics will remain high due to consumer demand for natural additives, organic ingredients and use of eco-friendly resources while those customers are turning away from chemicals and the side effects they are believed to cause. Another reason is just the naturally protective covering, soothing nature of wax itself.

Apitherapy is the medicinal use of products from bees includi ng venom , propolis, honey, pollen , and royal jelly. The last 3 are well-known for their use as nutritional supplements or in reducing allergic reactions. The first, venom, is used in research and in rheumatism and allergy therapeutics. For skin and wound care, honey is used in treatment of burns. Also, propolis in tinctures is used on wounds and to reduce irritation. Both propolis and honey are used with wax in

It's not surprising that bees would be attracted by a static electric charge, given their sensitive antennae and the hairs covering their bodies. The static charge causes deflection of the plumose hairs and is sensed by antennal mechanosensors. This article explains the mechanisms of this electrical attraction in detail: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1607426113

Honey bees are examples of super efficiency in the insect world in just about everything they do. Take flight for example. A fly (Order Diptera) has a wing beat of 62,000 per minute but a bee has greater maneuverability and range at less than 1/5 that number of beats or strokes per minute, about 11,500, or almost 200 wing strokes per second. For how a bee does it, see How Bees Fly demonstrated by Simon Rees at the National Honey Show - https://youtu.be/9UKo3NKuLkk . He show

As beekeepers know, every hive is different and some are more intent on one task or another: raising brood, making honey or collecting pollen. Although a colony may only eat about 44 to 65 lbs per year, they have been detected collecting up to 125 pounds per year. Some strains of bees have been selected and experimentally developed by researchers to collect pollen to the exclusion of the amount of honey needed to sustain the hive through winter.

Pollen is not all yellow or orange; bees find and collect quite a range of colors. This is particularly noticeable late in the summer in Western Washington State, when beekeepers see many colors of pollen as the bees pack away pollen stores for winter. When there is no major nectar flow to collect, a hive often turns more toward collecting pollen. The bees fill entire frames with pollens, often of many colors. At this time of the year, some pollen baskets are very visible on

Honey bees are not the fastest flying insects. In contrast, it appears to be generally agreed that dragonflies are among the fastest insects known at over 30mph being repeatedly measured. Honey bees are considered to fly at a maximum speed of around 15 mph, but in defense of the honey bee, look at all the duties of a worker bee – scouting and gathering nectar and pollen, hive defense, etc. Setting speed records is not part of her life’s work. However, that difference

It is believed that worker bees don’t sleep until they are foraging age. Until then they are cleaning, nursing the brood, tending the queen, heating the hive, warming the brood, processing the nectar and pollen gathered during the day and distributing food to all hive residents. No wonder they have no time to sleep! However, eventually the worker bee body has aged and changed to foraging after passing through a progression of the duties throughout her life. Those duties chang