Debbie’s Bee Swarm Last Saturday, my friend Debbie and I were taking a bee workshop called “Overwintering Nucs”. In the middle of drilling together a specialized bottom board for the nucs, Debbie gets a text message on her phone from her husband as he was walking out the door for […]
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First Hive Inspection Of Squill 5-6-12
First hive inspection reveals Squill is off to a good start! Three weeks after installing his bee package, Brian finally got to inspect his hive Squill. These bees took a while to warm up to the queen, so Brian was wondering if she was in there and laying or if […]
My New Wax Purifier And Hot Box
My New Wax Purifier And Hot Box Several weeks ago Essex County Beekeepers Association held a workshop called building a Hot Box and Wax Purifier / Cleaner. One of the members of our club came up with the design and Brian went to the workshop to build it. When he […]
Ditching The Drone Pupae And Local Swarms Abound
Ditching The Drones And Swarms! The weather has been strange this year with extremely warm weather followed by cold and a week plus of rain. Several local beekeeping friends have seen early swarms in the last couple of days and/or capped queen cells in the hive. Many people are already […]
Drawing Wax And Building Wonky Comb – Dandelion Hive Check 4-27-12
Drawing wax and building wonky comb. Tuesday, April 27th was my first inspection of Dandelion after installing the package on April 15th. It was cloudy, 52 degrees and probably much too windy to do an inspection normally. Despite the weather, the girls were still bringing in lots of orange pollen. […]
Foundationless Frames Are Working! – Willow Hive Check 4-26-12
My new package is doing a great job drawing out the foundationless frames! This was my first hive check of willow, after installing the package on April 14th and removing the queen cage a few days later. I’ve been so excited to look at this hive, the waiting has been […]