One Beekeeper, Two Wright Brothers

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beekeeping history

Name: Amos Ives Root

• Birth: 9 DEC 1839 in Medina Township (Medina) State of Ohio
• Death: 30 APR 1923 in Medina (Medina) State of Ohio
• Burial: UNKNOWN Spring Grove Cemetery in Medina, Ohio

Bees on the Roof

Leave it to a beekeeper to make aviation history. An Ohio entrepreneur/beekeeper named Amos Root was, according to reports, the only person to actually witness the Wright brothers’ airplane flights in 1904 and 1905. And not just witness them, but write about them in a publication he founded called “Gleanings in Bee Culture.”

Root makes an appearance in David McCullough’s “The Wright Brothers” and also in an article on PBS’s Nova site. As the Nova site says, “almost as astonishing as the fact that a pair of bicycle shop owners invented the airplane” is that the first “accurate reporting on their earliest flights appeared” not in The New York Times or Scientific American, but in “an obscure journal for beekeepers.”

Root, a beekeeping hobbyist from his early twenties on, started a company in Medina, Ohio, that made beehives and beekeeping equipment. One of his best inventions was developing removable…

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Honey Yeast Rolls with Brown Sugar Cinnamon Butter

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honey, recipe

I’ve written elsewhere expressing my opinion of the public school system’s move away from home made yeast rolls and real butter. Seems the newer system of healthier meals has had the unintended consequences of kids throwing away most of their school lunches. My opinion is simple – feed the kids. No fees, no hassles, just eat real food. And, in my school days of long ago that comes down to yeast rolls and butter.

We had a big group over for Easter yesterday, so of course I cooked a lot. I’m still getting the hang of coming up with my own bread recipes, and I didn’t want to risk an experiment with a big crowd. So, I used this recipe for honey yeast rolls from Southern Living. These rolls […]

via Honey Yeast Rolls with Brown Sugar Cinnamon Butter — Sarah’s Bites

I Was Tricked Into Becoming a Beekeeper

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beekeeping

The truth is – although I’ve always loved bees, I never really thought I’d become a beekeeper. Here’s how that changed pretty quickly.

via I Was Tricked Into Becoming a Beekeeper — Prime Bees – College Station Bee & Honey Farm

World’s Sweetest Honey

The April 2017 issue of the world’s best bee magazine (American Bee Journal) published a piece written by your favourite bee-blogger (me). My article is called America’s Sweetest Honey. In it, I describe why honey from different flowers tastes different. Ultimately, I show that some honey is sweeter than other varieties. With that in mind, […]

via World’s Sweetest Honey — Bad Beekeeping Blog

Great hives from little nucs grow

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beekeeping calendar, beekeeping seasons, management

We have had a few weeks of spring lately, with the air full of pollen and the bees going crazy. Rain and cool weather returned this weekend, so I am not able to work outside. I am instead sitting inside and writing this early spring update. A year will come when I feel that my […]

via Great hives from little nucs grow — Bees with eeb

Beekeeping Calendar and Seasons – Springtime

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beekeeping, beekeeping calendar, beekeeping seasons

What to do through the spring season in beekeeping – check out our list of simple, spring beekeeper activities.

via Beekeeping Calendar and Seasons – Springtime — Prime Bees – College Station Bee & Honey Farm

Swarms versus Bee Removals

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beekeeping, opinion, swarms

Occasionally, bees or wasps will make their home in the  walls  or a tree on your property. While getting them out may be tricky, it is worth finding out if it is possible.  Read more about why you should have them removed instead of exterminating them below.

Typically beekeepers do not do removals  from structures  or trees, but some do. Removals from homes are most often a fee for service situation.  Removals necessitate a specific skill set not taught in beekeeping.

Last year, while responding to honey bee swarm calls, on more than one occasion I arrived only to find that the owner had already sprayed insecticide on the bees. This is almost always a bad idea for several reasons.

First, if it’s a swarm, local beekeepers will typically gladly lend a hand to help you remove the bees and often at little or no charge. You get the bees removed, save yourself and your family exposure to insecticide, and get to feel good about saving one of our environment’s most valued pollinators.If the bees have established a colony within your home things get more complex. Always consult the advice of a bee removal service before spraying insecticides. Last year, I responded to a swarm call that turned out to be an established colony in a home. The lady of the house was standing outside the home spraying the colony entrance with insecticide. She had already depleted one can and was working on her second. While it may have been as easy as removing a small piece of soffet to extract the bees, I no longer was going to risk bringing back chemically laden bees to my home bee yard. But there is more to it that that. Aside from all her children standing around getting a good dose of the overspray from the can, she was killing the flying bees which feed and support the hive. This meant that thousands of larvae would die shortly thereafter and leave her with a rotting odor inside her home in the days that followed.

Another call I received in late summer had me arrive to find an inpatient landlord spraying inside an attic. He told me that he determined that the bees clustered on the outside were actually entering the house and had established a hive in the attic. He thanked me for coming, but said he didn’t have time to wait as he hoped to have the house rented later that day. Before leaving I told him that unless he wanted a damaged ceiling, drywall and furnishings, he should consider having the hive removed because without the bees fanning the wax comb, the comb would melt releasing perhaps gallons of honey, and he’d be receiving complains from his new tenants. (not to mention the smell of decaying bees and larva and attracting ants, roaches, and other pests for months to come).

In closing, consider that spraying the bees is a poor effort to quickly eliminate a complex problem, and will often lead to more expensive problems in the days that follow. The time spent consulting a local beekeeper or bee removal service first is time well invested.

We hope this external  link assists you in your search to find someone locally in the USA:
http://www.bees-on-the-net.com

For more information on bees in structures visit Clemson Extension’s webpage: Honey Bee Colony Removal From Structures.

Colony Swarms

“The Swarm” was a 1978 movie with an all-star cast about a swarm of killer bees out to destroy humanity. This classic B-movie is the epitome of most peoples understanding of honey bee behavior and swarming. I have heard countless tales of people scared silly over a swarm of bees, when actually a swarm is […]

via Colony Swarms —

Spring-inspired Quinoa Salad

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honey, recipe

Spring is here! the beautiful flowers and trees blooming, the smells and aromas, the birds singing in the morning….And what I love the most about spring is the abundance of new market produce, when I think of this part of the year my mind goes straight to fresh peas, asparagus, broadbeans, small potatoes, strawberries, herbs, […]

via Spring-inspired Quinoa Salad — Amber Bewick

Watering Your Bees

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beekeeping, management

Bees need water! It’s not so much of an issue now in the spring, but in the heat of summer you don’t want them visiting your neighbors’ swimming pools and bird baths. Not everyone is fond of them!

It’s instinctual for us to want to provide clean, fresh water for our pets and livestock, but bees don’t like it that way. For whatever reason, they seem to prefer stagnant water full of debris that has been sitting around for as long as possible. Perhaps that makes it easier to smell?

We do know why they appreciate debris, it’s so they can get a drink without drowning. A perfect solution to your thirsty bee problem is a bowl full of pebbles, moss and leaves, woodchips, or a combination of the above. It’s a good idea to get it in place now so the bees can learn where it is by the time they really need it. If you leave it in a place where rainwater can replenish it, all the better.

Source: Watering Your Bees — Abernathy’s Rabbitry