Bee Diary: 2012
Spring New Beltane Moon One of the new colonies is queenright for sure. I saw the white, curled … Continue reading
Tag Archives: frames
Bee-Keeping, The Third Year
Fall Full Autumn Moon Our revels now have ended. The very last of the year’s harvest, four-foot long decorative squash and birdhouse style gourds, Kate brought in yesterday. The bees are done for the year. Two colonies will die over … Continue reading
Posted in Bees
Tagged Artemis Hives, colonies, extractor, foundations, frames, hives, Kate, uncapping, woodenware
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Bee Diary: April 17, 2011
Spring Full Bee Hiving Moon First full outdoor morning. Took off all the hive boxes, cleaned every frame and the hive boxes, prepared hive boxes for the packages due next weekend. The divide from last year’s parent colony had a … Continue reading
Posted in Bees, Family
Tagged comb, drawn comb, foundation, frames, hive boxes, hiving, Mark, packages, propolis, wax
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Bee Diary: June 24, 2010
Summer Waxing Strawberry Moon I got through 2.5 hive inspections. The package colony has beautiful comb, an excellent egg-laying pattern and is now ready for the third hive box. That’s as far as it needs to go as soon as … Continue reading
Posted in Bees
Tagged divide, foul-brood, frames, hive inspections, honey, honey supers, package, parent, queens
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Bee Diary: Memorial Day, 2010
Beltane Waning Planting Moon Hive inspections today. A rhythm to the process has begun to set in, not jelled quite yet, but getting there. In the honey house, the converted machine shed where we parked our various internal combustion contraptions, … Continue reading
A Bee Day
Spring Waxing Flower Moon The drought took a hit last night and this morning. We had almost an inch of rain and it all fell right in the window when I needed to hive my bees. Wouldn’t you know? Today … Continue reading
Posted in Bees
Tagged allergy, foundations, frames, hiving, package, queen, smoker, sting
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More Bee Stuff
Spring Waxing Awakening Moon The bulk of the bee woodenware has come: frames for honey supers, honey supers, foundations for honey supers, a bee brush, a feeder for syrup and a bunch of pollen patties and goop to make my … Continue reading
Posted in Bees
Tagged division, feeders, frames, honey, honey supers, parent colonies, pollen patties, queens
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A Warm-Blooded Insect?
Spring Waxing Awakening Moon Sunny, but cool though warm weather seems fated to come our way. Ice out has advanced on Round Lake though there is still rough, weak ice over most of its surface. Many daffodils have speared their … Continue reading
Posted in Bees, Garden, Great Wheel
Tagged cluster, colony, foundations, frames, hive, honey house, honey supers, novel
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Excluded Queen, Clean Fins
Summer Waning Summer Moon The smoker worked. Mostly. The bees have had 2 to 2.5 months of breeding, brooding and comb building. There are a lot more bees than there were in April when Mark showed me how to load … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, Our Land and Home
Tagged air conditioning, colony, frames, hive box, honey flow, honey super, propolis, smoker
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