It is now July and Varroa destructor mite populations are likely on the rise, so it is time to start testing the hives regularly. Of all the testing methods, some of which require the beekeeper to kill off drone brood or euthanize a sample of bees, the “powdered sugar roll” (PSR) seems to be the … More Bee Report — Mite Testing
Last month I split out my hives and used on-the-spot queen rearing to raise new queens for three young colonies (read about this process in Part I and Part II). It takes about 23–30 days for a queen to grow from an egg (3 days) to larva (5 1/2 days) to pupa in capped brood … More Bee Report — Update on Splits
Last year I profiled a bienenhaus (“bee house”) at the New Glarus Swiss Historical Village & Museum in two blog posts (part I and part II). This is a purpose-made building that holds bee colonies in cabinets with frames attached to the sides of the cabinet. The bees enter and exit through small doors in … More Introducing den Bienenstall
Yesterday I described the Bienenhaus (bee house) at the Swiss Historical Village in New Glarus, Wisconsin. Today I am providing PDFs of four resources from their archives. Thanks again to the folks at the Swiss Historical Village for access to these materials. Their bee house was donated by the Barth family and in the archive … More Das Bienenhaus (The Bee House) Information from the Swiss Village Archives — Part II