No Straight Lines in Beekeeping

Tags

beekeeping, opinion

No Straight Lines in Beekeeping

My first year I had one hive. The following spring, in March, it swarmed twice, two weeks apart, and left me with nothing for all my hard work getting them through the previous summer, fall, and winter.

But, having been hooked with the fascination of that first hive, I had already purchased 6 packages and had spent that first winter building boxes, frames, bottoms, and tops. I had lost that first hive earlier in the month but I now had 6 fresh starts. That spring, in the first weeks, I spent a couple tanks of gas driving around collecting swarms, some failed and some succeeded. By the end of summer I had 13 hives. In autumn I lost a couple to their being weak but I learned a few things and combined a few more to strengthen them and went into winter with 7 hives.

By the next spring I had lost 4 of those 7 colonies because I failed to adequately ventilate and reduce moisture during the winter. In fact, I had promoted moisture by wrapping the hives “for their protection.” The learning curve can be brutal in beekeeping. By this time I had spent some time over winter reading about splits so I split those 3 remaining hives (remember I’d had 13 the previous year) and had about 8 hives at the start of the flow, Again on the swarm trail, I added another half dozen colonies and did some more fall splits. I actually made honey and sold a bit and closed the season with 18 hives.

That winter took less of a bite out of my bee yard and as I recall I lost about 5 hives and came out with 13 in the spring. Hey, maybe I’d learned something! Up to 21 that season and made honey again. Always spending the money on more boxes, frames, wax, lumber. Learning the dangers associated with mites, moisture, weak colonies, hive beetles. Learning the seasons from my mentors and when to do this or that. Like a dedicated AA member, never missing a meeting because Frank, Danny, Wes, Staci, Dave, Todd, Patrick, William, a visiting speaker, or someone would be there to tell me what I needed to be seeing in the hive and what I needed to be doing over the coming month. I am an information addict and those folks repeatedly told me what I sometimes resisted.

By the next winter I had a couple notebooks worth of meetings’ notes. Also, I had attended the beginning beekeeper class not once but twice – only a bee nerd would do such a thing. I actually sat down and wrote January, February, March… on blank pages and copied three years of monthly meeting notes on each month’s respective page. Not surprising, year to year the information was very similar but I had some gaps in my notes and combining the notebooks helped me learn a few things. By then I had also attended a few conferences; I added to my notebook and beekeeping calendar.

The winter I signed up to be the local club Secretary I lost less than 10%. I learned a great deal from visiting the bee yards of many of our members. I continued attending conferences, meetings, hearing it over and over; sometimes it took multiple times before I relented and relinquished some of my bad ideas. In the spring I decided to save gas money and stop chasing swarms. It had become easier to make splits. I still caught one or two to get it out of my system but my problem became one of more colonies than I had boxes. And still my own bees swarmed. By this time I had kind of stabilized at 20 hives and fluxed up or down a few at any given time.

The next year, again less than 10% failure rate over the winter. I think primarily because I had become convinced the previous year that treating for Varroa actually produces positive results, as does feeding them when needed, and strengthening colonies with combines in the early fall. I had bought only queens for two years, no packages or nucs, and increases were made when the bees cooperated in the spring. I was starting to think like a bee.

Last year I lost 20% which I fully blame on my failure to combine weaker hives in the Fall as is standard. I failed to make the few combines I should have because I’m a hard head so I lost a few. Several of these were nucleus hives which, had they been combined, would have overwintered. Another lesson I had to learn twice.

And here we are again going into winter. But I grew to 50 this year and then decided to generously combine weaker hives after the nectar flow. I also chose to not make splits immediately after the nectar flow which is standard practice if one wishes to grow their apiary (also called making increase). I hope to come out with a good survival rate in the spring of 2018. For Spring 2018 I’m posed to start the queen rearing adventure and be closer to a true sustainable bee yard.

But to get to the point here. It’s all flux; ups and downs.

Sustainability is possible but straight lines aren’t. I wrote an article some time back for our local club’s newsletter speaking on flexibility in beekeeping. It was based on a lecture titled, “Flexibility in Beekeeping” given by one of our senior beekeepers, Danny Cannon, a couple years earlier. That lecture was a turning point for me, helping me see the big picture a little clearer. Roll with the punches, think like a bee, work with the bees, follow their lead, always learn, be ready for change, capitalize on times of increase, brush yourself off and accept times of decrease, follow the bees’ nature and ride that wave whenever you can. And, oh yeah, enjoy the ride.

Here are the Blues Brothers demonstrating these principles. Roll with the punches, work with them – not against, follow their lead, accept change…

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Chicken Wings Marinated in Cranberry and Honey Sauce by Estonian Cuisine.

Tags

chicken wings, fall recipe, honey, honey recipe, recipe

Sounds like a game changer for Saturdays. But only one tablespoon of honey? I don’t think so. ! ~sassafrasbeefarm

Chicken Wings Marinated in Cranberry and Honey Sauce

Delicious sweet and sour marinade from honey and cranberries softening tender poultry.

Horseradish gives a taste and flavour. Wonderful warming dish for autumn dinner.

Get the full recipe here:  Chicken Wings Marinated in Cranberry and Honey Sauce. Kanatiivad jõhvika- ja meemarinaadis — Estonian Cuisine. Eesti Toit.

Thanksgiving and Thoreau

Tags

Henry David Thoreau, honey bees, opinion

from Letters to Various Persons, Ticknor and Fields, 1865, p. 145:

“I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual.”

“I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual. It is surprising low contented one can be with nothing definite only a sense of existence. Well anything for variety I am ready to try this for the next ten thousand years and exhaust it. How sweet to think of my extremities well charred and my intellectual part too so that there is no danger of worm or rot for a long while. My breath is sweet to me. O how I laugh when I think of my vague, indefinite riches. No run on my bank can drain it for my wealth is not possession but enjoyment.”

Thoreau on Bees:

Thoreau was surprised at the distance to which the village bees go for flowers.

“The rambler in the most remote woods and pastures little thinks that the bees which are humming so industriously on the rare wild flowers he is plucking for his herbarium, in some out-of-the-way nook, are, like himself, ramblers from the village, perhaps from his own yard, come to get their honey for his hives…I felt the richer for this experience. It taught me that even the insects in my path are not loafers, but have their special errands. Not merely and vaguely in this world, but in this hour, each is about its business.” – The Writings of Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau Learns a Lesson From the Bees by New England Historical Society

Tags

bee lining, Henry David Thoreau

Sept. 30, 1852, was a fine clear day, and Henry David Thoreau decided to go bee hunting. He ended up feeling richer for the experience, and not just because of the honey.

He was 35 years old, living in Concord, Mass., as the town’s principled eccentric. Two years earlier he had published A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, but it wasn’t a success. He had finished his sojourn in the woods, though he had yet to publish his masterpiece, Walden.

He had already spent a night in jail for refusing to pay his poll tax as a protest against slavery and the Mexican War. He was hiding escaped slaves in his family’s home and taking long walks in the surrounding woods and fields.

He recorded in great detail his observations of nature in his journal. On the day he went bee hunting, he described how he went with three friends in a wagon to Fair Haven Pond. They brought with them their bee-hunting apparatus: a small round tin box and a small wooden box.

At first they had no luck, as they couldn’t find flowers. The goldenrods were dried up and the asters were scarce. They tried the pond, a brook and a tree where Thoreau had found a bees’ nest that summer. No luck. And then,

Read the full article here: New England Historical Society

Beekeeping and Political Elections by sassafrasbeefarm

Tags

beekeeping, change, elections, opinion, political

Reposted:

It seems a parallel exists between bees, bee yards, and Political Elections. The ebb and flow, rhythm, and normal fluctuations all fall within the big picture.

Beekeepers accept the growth of the bee yard during the spring. Things expand on their own with little or no help from the beekeeper. Most beekeepers assign that expansion a positive value but, in fact it’s neither positive nor negative – it’s just a direction. In the autumn there is a corresponding reduction of colonies and things change, again neither good nor bad – just change. Beekeepers learn over the years that flux is the norm and without the connotations our beliefs wish to assign to individual events. It is what it is, we merge with the changes – or we don’t and become angst ridden. But how do we get to an acceptance of the flux? One way I have learned to adapt to the flux is by taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture.

Some colonies thrive for a season and then unexpectedly go out with a mighty thud. Other never build up. Still others chug along fully average in every way. But regardless, all can expect to come and go with time. Another example is the notes I write on the tops of my hives. After some time passes my notes become meaningless. Sometimes I look at those notes and try to remember the urgency that inspired my note written last season. In the bigger picture of the bee yard, after the bees swarm and the new queen comes in with her genetics it’s only a short time before the bees of the former queen are gone having been replaced by a new queen and her offspring. A new queen brings her genetics yet in the big picture things simply continue. And so it goes on every organizational level. Changes take place in the bee yard with hives being moved, replaced, swarms captured, queens failing. It’s all birth, change, flux, and impermanence. That’s okay, it works out, the bees offer us the opportunity to learn to enjoy the variations within the journey.

Reading the book, The Buzz about Bees – Biology of a Superorganism by Jürgen Tautz, I am reminded that the changes above are both disruptive as well as beneficial to the species. The biological makeup changes and the fate of the species is strengthened by these disruptive events. However to see this as beneficial we must back up and look at what’s happening from a long term point of view. Short term we only see disruption, possible loss of a honey crop, colony, or other inconvenient situation for the bees and beekeeper. Taking the long term view however, we see that flux is key to a balancing taking place in the colony, the bee yard, and even the species itself.

Beekeepers are slow people; I mean that in a good way. We patiently look to spring, then we make plans for summer dearth, then fall nectar flows, and then we prepare for winter. We are both methodical and boring. While mostly dull, we are also reassured that all is as it should be and we remain excited with each predictable change of the season. We learn that change and disruption is normal, even beneficial, and not to be feared. It’s only disruptive in the short term but not if we consider the long term. How could it be otherwise?

So, the colony has been disrupted. The big picture is it’s seeking balance again – be patient! It’s neither good nor bad – it’s just what is. As we often say, “we do our part and the bees will work it out if we let them.” Maybe not today, nor tomorrow; maybe not this week or this month. If we are patient, in time we’ll see change that pleases us the bee yard next year. For now though, maybe we can sit down and think things through and come up with a plan to help things along next season. Regardless, the big picture is so much larger than we are that we struggle to fully see how change is beneficial to seeking balance. As humans in an inpatient world we struggle with concepts of time, change, and balance. Don’t be alarmed; everything in this world is subject to disruptions and change yet always seeks balance.

Chipotle Honey Lime Chicken by kevinis cooking

Tags

chicken, chipotle, honey, honey recipe, lime, recipe

This easy Chipotle Honey Lime Chicken is a smash hit every time. Whether grilled or sautéed in a pan, the citrus marinade with warm spices, fresh herbs and honey is packed with flavor. Perfect as a main course, sliced over salads, in tacos or in a sandwich, this recipe is so versatile! Well this past…

See full recipe here: Chipotle Honey Lime Chicken — keviniscooking.com

Chocolate Bakalava by Let’s Taco Bout It Blog

Tags

Anna Karenina, baklava, beekeeping, chocolate, food, honey, recipe

Istoriya Odin

This recipe first published at: Let’s Taco Bout It Blog. Visit the link below to read entire article. get the recipe, and see some amazing pictures.

“He stepped down, trying not to look long at her, as if she were the sun, yet he saw her, like the sun, even without looking.”

― Leo Tolstoy , Anna Karenina

The Princess Oblonsky, also know as Anna Arkádyevna Karénina or even more familiarly Anna, looked curiously for and back the immense banquet table. Being nobility afforded many luxuries for her and her inquisitive and thoughtful mind enjoyed these luxuries to the fullest. She adored the ability to sit and enjoy a meal with her family and friends, however this grand hall full of people she barely knew was a bit much. The fakery, the frippery of it all insulted her sensibilities to their very core. The grandiose hall was modeled after the glorious summer palace in Versailles, the very height of couture and society. Twinkling tapers softly lit the entire guilted corridor with candelabras, tapestries and chandeliers glittering. All at once it was to much to behold, yet Anna drank it in like champagne.

Even more than the grand room was the grand foods! Each aristocrat had multiple gourmet courses served and each was whisked away by the Tatar attendants in coattails down to the backs of their knees once the dish had been finished. In between, Anna and the other guests had time to discourse on the favorite topics of the evening the food, the military, and their fellow aristocrats. While the nobles around her were distracted by the gossip, she wandered off to examine the sideboards full of stylish desserts. There were all of the nouveau delicacies from Paris, but as Anna continued until she found her absolute favorite, baklava. This decadent, delicate pastry was layered with honey and nuts and to add a bit of the french flair that the Russians adored so much, the whole sweet was studded with bits of melted chocolate.

As Anna finished browsing, she returned to her seat thinking only of how her son would have loved the baklava. Abruptly, she realized she had been staring down and across the table, with a young man smiling back at her. Anna shook her head to clear her thoughts and joined in the conversation with the man to her left but every time she looked up, there was the rakish grin. It’s was as hard to resist smiling back as it was to not have a piece of the baklava!

(cont.)

Read entire article, see some amazing photos and get the recipe at:  Chocolate Baklava – Anna Karenina — Let’s Taco Bout It Blog

Honeydew, Aphids, and Yellow Jackets

Honeydew, Aphids, and Yellow Jackets. A couple days ago I noticed hundreds of yellow jackets on the ground under a spruce tree. Oh boy, I thought, I finally found their nest. But I couldn’t find any sort of central gathering. Instead they were all over. Then I noticed they were also in the tree above, on the needles, and walking the branches. Then I saw the aphids and I remembered that honey bees sometimes collect the secretions of aphids which have been processed from the tree saps and sugars. Since there isn’t much protein in the sap, the aphids have to eat lots of it and they excrete the extra sugars. The resulting honey is referred to as honeydew honey. So, the yellow jackets were working in and around the tree collecting the honeydew and most likely picking off some of the aphids for their protein. This is a beneficial behavior of the yellow jackets so I left them to do their job. To read more about honeydew visit HoneyBeeSuite here: https://www.honeybeesuite.com/what-is-honeydew-honey/ 

Reading Materials – Preparations for Winter

Tags

beekeeping books, beekeeping winter activities, education

It’s still early and we have lots of time to make preparations to obtain reading matter for the long winter haul. A time when beekeepers spend time wondering what the bees are doing and how they are faring inside their hives. But for those so inclined to prepare ahead of time and capture the best prices, now is the time to search Amazon and Ebay and your favorite used book sellers for good deals. I recently got both of these non US titles for a fraction of their going rate. Just waiting for the cold weather to set in now.

Pictured above:

Beekeeping – A Seasonal Guide by Ron Brown

The Honey Bee – A Guide for Beekeepers by V.R. Vickery

 

Beekeeping Vocabulary – “W” is for…

Tags

beekeeping, beekeeping vocabulary, beeswax, honey bee vocabulary, honey bees

 

Processed Beeswax

Today’s beekeeping vocabulary word is, “wax.”

 

From Wikipedia (edited):

Beeswax (cera alba) is a natural wax produced by honey bees of the genus Apis. The wax is formed into “scales” by eight wax-producing glands in the abdominal segments of worker bees, who discard it in or at the hive. The hive workers collect and use it to form cells for honey-storage and larval and pupal protection within the beehive. Chemically, beeswax consists mainly of esters of fatty acids and various long-chain alcohols.

Beeswax has long-standing applications in human food and flavoring. For example, it is used as a glazing agent, a sweetener, or as a light/heat source. It is edible, in the sense of having similar negligible toxicity to plant waxes, and is approved for food use in most countries and the European Union under the E number E901. However, the wax monoesters in beeswax are poorly hydrolysed in the guts of humans and other mammals, so they have insignificant nutritional value.^[1] Some birds, such as honeyguides, can digest beeswax. Beeswax is the main diet of Wax moth larvae.

Beeswax has a relatively low melting point range of 62 °C to 64 °C (144 °F to 147 °F). If beeswax is heated above 85 °C (185 °F) discoloration occurs. The flash point of beeswax is 204.4 °C (400 °F).^[9] Density at 15 °C is 958 kg/m³ to 970 kg/m³.

When natural beeswax is cold it is brittle, at room temperature it is tenacious, its fracture is dry and granular, it also softens at human body temperature.

Beeswax has many and varied uses. Primarily, it is used by the bees in making their honeycombs. Apart from this use by bees, the use of beeswax has become widespread and varied. Purified and bleached beeswax is used in the production of food, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals. The three main types of beeswax products are yellow, white, and beeswax absolute. Yellow beeswax is the crude product obtained from the honeycomb, white beeswax is bleached or filtered yellow beeswax,^[11] and beeswax absolute is yellow beeswax treated with alcohol.^[12] In food preparation, it is used as a coating for cheese; by sealing out the air, protection is given against spoilage (mold growth). Beeswax may also be used as a food additive E901, in small quantities acting as a glazing agent, which serves to prevent water loss, or used to provide surface protection for some fruits. Soft gelatin capsules and tablet coatings may also use E901. Beeswax is also a common ingredient of natural chewing gum.

Use of beeswax in skin care and cosmetics has been increasing. A German study found beeswax to be superior to similar barrier creams (usually mineral oil-based creams such as petroleum jelly), when used according to its protocol.^[13] Beeswax is used in lip balm, lip gloss, hand creams, salves, and moisturizers; and in cosmetics such as eye shadow, blush, and eye liner. Beeswax is also an important ingredient in moustache wax and hair pomades, which make hair look sleek and shiny.

Candle-making has long involved the use of beeswax, which is highly flammable, and this material traditionally was prescribed for the making of the Paschal candle or “Easter candle”. This may be because beeswax candles are often purported to be superior to other wax candles, because they are meant to burn brighter and longer, do not bend, and burn “cleaner”. ^[14]It is further recommended for the making of other candles used in the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church.^[15] Beeswax is also the candle constituent of choice in the Orthodox Church.^[16]

Top five beeswax producers (2012, in tonnes)
India	23 000
Ethiopia	5 000
Argentina	4 700
Turkey	4 235
Republic of Korea	3 063
World total

Beeswax is an ingredient in surgical bone wax, which is used during surgery to control bleeding from bone surfaces; shoe polish and furniture polish can both use beeswax as a component, dissolved in turpentine or sometimes blended with linseed oil or tung oil; modeling waxes can also use beeswax as a component; pure beeswax can also be used as an organic surfboard wax.^[19] Beeswax blended with pine rosin, can serve as an adhesive to attach reed plates to the structure inside a squeezebox. It can also be used to make Cutler’s resin, an adhesive used to glue handles onto cutlery knives. It is used in Eastern Europe in egg decoration; it is used for writing, via resist dyeing, on batik eggs (as in pysanky) and for making beaded eggs. Beeswax is used by percussionists to make a surface on tambourines for thumb rolls. It can also be used as a metal injection moulding binder component along with other polymeric binder materials.^[20] Beeswax was formerly used in the manufacture of phonograph cylinders. It may still be used to seal formal legal or Royal decree and academic parchments such as placing an awarding stamp imprimatur of the university upon completion of post-graduate degrees.

Source and to read more: Wikipedia

Beekeeping in Central South Carolina: Mild Winters, Mites, Cotton and Soybeans by David MacFawn

Tags

beekeeping, seasons, South Carolina

The following is an article written for Bee Culture by my friend and bee buddy, Master Craftsman Beekeeper, David MacFawn. I think it gives a good analysis of the seasons and beekeeping chores we encounter throughout the year here in the Midlands of South Carolina. SassafrasBeeFarm

By David MacFawn

I had a chance to discuss beekeeping in central South Carolina with Danny Cannon, who runs about 400 colonies and is in the Lexington (Columbia – Midlands) area of South Carolina (beetrailfarm@gmail.com).

Our Winters are mild and short in central South Carolina.  Colonies typically raise brood year around, even in November and the first part of December. Last Winter (2016-2017) we really did not have any winter, except a cold spell in March. Drones typically start flying end of February to the first of March. It is the middle of August, as I am writing this article for the October magazine, cotton is toward the end of its bloom and has done well so far this year. We are monitoring the colonies for mites in August through the December time frame. If necessary, we will treat for mites as soon as the cotton honey supers are pulled in September. We have had well-spaced rain throughout the Summer. October is the month that we start our bee’s Autumn (first frost).

Winter stores (pollen mainly) need to take us through to the first of February when red maple blooms. We also typically have a pollen dearth and the resulting “dry” brood in the later part of August through the first part of September. This dearth impacts Winter brood production. The honey stores need to take us from the September/October time frame through about the first of April when the nectar flow starts. We need to watch our honey supply very closely in March (the month prior to the nectar flow) to ensure the colonies do not starve when building up for the April through June Spring nectar flow.

(cont.)

Read the full article at: Beekeeping in Central South Carolina: Mild Winters, Mites, Cotton and Soybeans | Bee Culture

Building Inexpensive Nucleus Hive Boxes and Queen Mating Nucs

Tags

beekeeping, DIY, equipment, frugal beekeeping

My plan for this coming year is to do some queen rearing. In preparation I will need mating nucs. I pondered using deep 5 frame nucs, which I have a quantity of already, but for various reasons I have decided to use medium height 5 frame nuc boxes. This plan accommodates nuc hive sales as well as queen rearing. Additionally, the medium boxes are significantly cheaper to build as described below.

Nuc boxes External dimensions:

Deep Boxes: 19 7/8″ Length X 9 5/8″ Width X 9 5/8″ Height (Comment: Different bee supply companies makes these different widths. Some as small as 9″ width. Mann Lake makes them a generous 9 5/8″ which I assume is in order to handle their frame feeder. I use this dimension as I have found that whether with or without the frame feeder it avoids crowding of the frames yet doesn’t seem to cause burr comb against the sides. This may not be true if one used frames from a different manufacturer.

Medium Boxes: 19 7/8″ Length X 9 5/8″ Width X 6 5/8″ Height

The above dimensions, both deep and medium, are different than the actual cutting of the box components due to the corner joints. I use a rabbet joint cut 3/8″ deep on the front and back pieces. Because the front and back then contribute to the side length the board on the side is cut 3/4″” smaller than the external 19 7/8″ (side length is cut is 19 1/8″).

Making Medium Boxes: My initial estimate is that I can make 11 of these boxes from a single sheet of 23/32″ sheathing plywood. at about $23-$24 per sheet of 23/32″ sheathing that comes to about $2.25 per box. Tops and bottoms will add to this cost. Total waste is approximately 9%.

Making Deep Boxes: My estimate is that I can make 6 boxes from a single sheet of 23/32″ sheathing plywood. This results in a price per box of $4. Tops and bottoms will add to this cost. The large reduction in the number of boxes that can be made vs medium boxes is a result of waste which results due to the larger dimensions. Total waste per 4′ x 8′ sheet when deep boxes are constructed from plywood is approximately 28%.

I’m using a computer program called CutList Plus which maximizes layout on the plywood. It’s a fun program and I’d encourage you to give it a spin. http://cutlistplus.com/

Before someone lectures me on use of plywood and it’s longevity, warping, and delamination characteristics please don’t. I have used this particular sheathing and found that with three proper coats of protection it holds up without delamination or warping quite well.

The Secret to the Modern Beehive is a One Centimeter Air Gap by Jimmy Stamp

Tags

beekeeping history, Berlepsch, Dzierzon, famous beekeepers, Huber, Langstroth

Note: Contrary to the text found in the article below, Berlepsch may have beaten Lorenzo Langstroth to the recognition of bee space as a consideration to be utilized in the construction of bee hives  – by as little as 5 months. Berlepsch was working with Dzierzon on a movable frame hive and is now noted for his perfecting of other’s efforts.

Given that information and publishing was very slow in the mid nineteenth century, it is quite possible that the two men refined the use of bee space as a valuable addition to beekeeping independently and at approximately the same time.

Berlepsch was also, during the same period, working with Dzierzon on a moveable frame hive. However it was the American Langstroth that got it right combining the two features of bee space and removable frame hive which proved to be simple, flexible, and would later go on to dominate managed beekeeping in the United States. <end of note>

 

In 1851, Reverend Lorenzo Lorraine Langstroth invented a better beehive and changed beekeeping forever. The Langstroth Hive didn’t spring fully formed from one man’s imagination, but was built on a foundation of methods and designs developed over millenia.

Beekeeping dates back at least to ancient Egypt, when early apiarists built their hives from straw and clay (if you happen to find a honeypot in a tomb, feel free to stick your hand in it, you rascal, because honey lasts longer than a mummy). In the intervening centuries, various types of artificial hives developed, from straw baskets to wood boxes but they all shared one thing: “fixed combs” that must be physically cut from the hive. These early fixed comb hives made it difficult for beekeepers to inspect their brood for diseases or other problems.

In the 18th century, noted Swiss naturalist François Huber developed a “movable comb” or “movable frame” hive that featured wooded leaves filled with honeycombs that could be flipped like the pages of a book. Despite this innovation, Huber’s hive was not widely adopted and simple box hives remained the popular choice for beekeepers until the 1850s. Enter Lorenzo Langstroth.

 

Read the full article here: The Secret to the Modern Beehive is a One-Centimeter Air Gap

Bee Hive Stand for Cheap!

Tags

DIY, equipment, woodenware

Make this permanent/portable hive stand for cheap or free.

For under ten dollars you can build a sturdy hive stand that can be used in either a permanent or portable situation. Since it uses relatively short pieces of lumber, sometimes you can find scraps and make one free. I have made several of these and use them as portable stands moving them around as I perform hive inspections. Along the way… they sometimes get used in a more permanent way when the unexpected happens and a stand is needed for a captured swarm or an unexpected, but necessary, spring split.

Materials:
5/4″ x 6″ x 12′ treated deck lumber (#2 lowest grade)- qty. 1
2″ x 4″ x 8′ treated lumber – qty. 1
2 1/2″ nails or ~ 2″ screws – about 36

You’re going to make several 18″ cuts so if you have a table or radial arm saw set it for 18 inches first. If you don’t have either then that’s okay too – any saw will work.

Cut the 2”X4″ into 4 leg pieces each measuring 18″ (you’ll have a piece left)

Using the 5/4″ x 6″ lumber cut an additional two 18″ pieces.

Reset your saw to 24″ and cut the remaining 5/4″ lumber into 4 pieces. (you will have a short piece remaining).

The 2″x4″s are your legs. Make a sandwich by nailing two of the 24″ pieces to sandwich two 18″ legs. A carpenter’s square helps keep things perpendicular but not absolutely necessary. (don’t overcomplicate it; do one side, turn it over and repeat.)

Make another sandwich using the remaining 24″ pieces and 18″ leg pieces.

On a flat concrete surface, stand and connect the two sandwiched pieces using the remaining 5/4″ x 6″ x 18″ pieces by nailing them them to the sides joining the sandwiches. Your stand should now be complete and level.

 

Drawn Comb – Taking Care of your assets

Tags

beekeeping, beeswax

This time of year we often have unexpected colony failures. Too often in reacting to the lost of the bees (and the beekeeper’s hard work) beekeepers walk away from the hive in despair thinking they’ll just have to start over next year. That’s okay, but don’t walk away too fast.

Bees can readily be replaced but comb can’t. Even if a colony fails, a spring package of bees (or a split from another hive) can be placed on last year’s comb and it’s as if the hive hardly skips a beat. If new beekeepers take care of the comb year to year they can grow the number of hives or make honey easily on that asset we call drawn comb.

So if it happens to you don’t despair. Take care of their legacy of comb and the bees will be miles ahead of the game next spring.