I got the opportunity to check on the bees today. It has been warm enough, I am feeding pretty steadily to ensure my colonies don’t starve. I opened the hives and filled my frame feeders with a gallon each of 1:1 sugar syrup. It’s only February and my bees are rolling. Continue reading
Well, I say winter. Technically. It has been a very mild winter. In fact, as you can see above and below, we have buds and blooms coming out. It’s early February. Continue reading
So I went out to check the bees. The weather here has been wild, to say the least. Temps go from the mid seventies one day to the mid forties the next. I figured the bees would be running through some food, I just didn’t expect to find as many bees as I did. Continue reading
Bee smokers are a Beekeeper’s best friend, unless you are so busy being frustrated that it won’t stay lit. Apparently at some point, I managed to lose the grate in the bottom of my smoker. I knew it was gone, I just hoped I could make do without it. I was wrong. Continue reading
So, winter is supposedly in full swing. Here in Mississippi, it has been quite mild. I can probably count the number of really cold days on my two hands. The bees are confused, I think. We seem to get warm for several days, the bees come out, then the temp drops for a few days. Frustrating, but life I guess. I have been using my time to do a few other things… Continue reading
The weather is turning cool, so the projects in the wood shop are starting to get done. I was thinking of things I wanted to have for next spring when swarm season gets here and felt a Bee Vac would be a nice start. It seems about half the calls I got for swarms would have been much easier with a vacuum.
Summer… cutting grass… two things that seem to go hand in hand, like it or not. Today I was cutting grass out in the bee yard. I have a couple young pear trees that are loaded with pears, so I paused at each one to look at it. The third tree I got to, I noticed bees flying by me. I stopped and watched, looked up from my mower and found this.
A welcome little surprise, if I do say so myself. Not often do I have the luxury of getting a swarm and still being home. I got my sugar water ready, put a hive together, went out there, captured it, and hived it. All within 30 minutes or so. So, swarm season isn’t quite over yet. Keep your eyes peeled.
It has been a busy spring. Once the weather warmed up here, we started getting calls to come get swarms. Many of the swarms were quite small, but several were a pretty good size. We hived all of our swarms, and had about a 75% rate of bees sticking around. I think we got one swarm where the queen was damaged or killed during the removal. We got a Continue reading
I have had the pleasure of getting to capture several swarms lately. Some really weird ones, some normal ones. While free bees are a grand thing, I found myself in a situation I could not have imagined… running low on deeps. I am trying to use all 8 frame equipment, just to keep things simple, but I do have some 10 frame deeps if push comes to shove.
I decided this was the weekend to build some boxes. I built two a few weeks ago, just to make sure I had the process down. Having been happy with my first attempt (except the lack of handles) I set myself up to make several.
I found a deal at Lowes, eight 8′ 1×12 pine boards for $38. I set to work, and spent the better part of the day working on this. I made jigs as I went, in order to simplify future building projects. At the end of the day, I ended up with 10 (almost 11) boxes. I figure with nails and glue, I probably built each for under $6. Not bad. I may be able to do a little better, if I adjust my cuts to get the most out of each board. I ended up with a scrap piece from each board just a bit too short to use as an end piece.
All in all, I am happy, and my bees will be happy as well.
A few weeks ago, I decided I would try my hand at putting out a few swarm traps. Of course, I had to have a few swarm traps first.
A quick search of YouTube brought up an abundance of options. There are truly some great videos out there of people making traps. I opted to use something I already had in hand. Nuc boxes.
I had a few nuc boxes sitting around, so I made a few simple modifications to them and ended up with 5 traps. Basically, I drilled a hole (which can be plugged if need be) at the base of the hive. I attached a board to the rear with a hole in it, so I could hang it from a tree. I put the top on it, and screwed a couple of screws in it to hold it in place.
After very little time, I had traps. I put some frames in it. One frame of drawn comb went in each. I also dabbed a bit of lemongrass oil in it, and folded the swab I used in a baggie at the bottom of the trap. I put a dab of it at the entrance hole as well.
I then hung three of them on my property. One at a friend’s place, and one at my mother-in-law’s house.
The good news, I just got a phone call from my mother-in-law, there are bees “All over the box, coming in and out.” Apparently they are loud enough in the box she can hear them from the outside. I will go out tomorrow and check them out.
