We Save Bees!
Massachusetts Beekeepers spring meeting included talks on Queen Rearing and How Neonicotinoids Harm Native Bees A few weeks ago, I attended the Massachusetts Beekeepers Association spring meeting, hosted by Essex County Beekeepers Association. The highlights for me at these meetings are chatting with other beekeepers, learning tricks of the trade […]
My honeybees are now gathering beautiful blue pollen from Siberian Squill flowers. I first noticed this stunning steel-blue colored pollen during my hive inspection on March 22, 2012. Honeybee after foraging honeybee was carrying full baskets of bright blue pollen and it was magnificent. The blue pollen comes from an […]
The above average March temperatures allowed me to perform an early spring hive inspection of my overwintered colony. With temperatures above average all winter, and 10-20 degrees above average for the past week, the flowers in the area have started blooming early and the bees have been very active. The […]
That’s what I get for leaving a super filled with frames inside my basement – d’oh! Luckily, all is not ruined because the frames were made using plastic foundation and not wax. I’ve seen what unfettered wax moths can do to wax foundation and it is ugly! Yet, still the […]
The pollen was orange and the bees had an abundance of it. I wish I knew what it was – snowdrop or crocus pollen perhaps? Just a few more weeks until spring but my girls have decided not to wait. All day long they were busy bringing pollen into the […]
What does a beekeeper do with bees in January and February? Are there jobs to do when the bees are tucked away in the hive all day? What are the bees doing in there anyway? Beekeeping is a local art, similar to a plant hardiness zone and completely dependent on […]