In the last report, we found that the institute bees survived the “polar vortex” -30°F (plus windchill) temperatures but the research hives, which were split heavily and smaller in size, did not. It is now reaching flying temperatures most days (>50°F) and the bees in all four institute hives have been out. Institute Hives … More Bee Report — Early Spring is Here
After the polar vortex visited us with -30°F temperatures, we warmed up to the mid 40ºFs, and I took the opportunity to check on our bees. At this time of year, the bees are not hibernating, as many people think. They form a cluster around the center of the hive and shiver themselves together to … More Bee Report — Midwinter Check
The bees are preparing for winter. Last week I went into the hives to consolidate winter stores and check on the health of the colonies. We have four hives on the institute property and four hives around the village as part of our mite-tolerant breeding program. The four hives on the institute property were split … More Bee Report — Tucking the Bees in for Winter
Things are going well for the bees. The institute currently has four hives as part of its mite-tolerant breeding program. To increase the number of hives going into the winter, about a month ago, I split our two original hives into four: I pulled the queen, two frames of brood, and two frames of honey, … More Bee Report — Study Hive Splits and Bee Vacuum
A healthy bee colony will outgrow its hive most years. When this happens, a swarm is sent out, dividing the colony into two or more: the original queen leaves with half the hive and those left behind raise new queens from left-over eggs. The swarm parks itself in a convenient location as a large mass … More Bee Report — “Cutout” becomes a “Trapout” in Brodhead
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
This is the second and final part of a short discussion of splitting hives using ideas found in Mel Disselkoen’s On-The-Spot (OTS) queen rearing method and the Coweta Beekeeping Method. In this post, I’ll go over how to finish the split by making hives for honey production or population increase. Check out the first post, … More Bee Report — Splitting Hives and Raising Queens (Part II)
Many beekeepers depend on purchasing packages (screened boxes full of bees with a queen) or nucleus hives (mini-hives to be inserted into a full-size one), which cost between $150 and 250 each, depending on the local variables. Some beekeepers end up purchasing bees each year to replace dead-outs (bee colonies that died during the winter). … More Bee Report — Splitting Hives and Raising Queens (Part I)
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
