About five weeks ago I wrote a blog about seeding clover for my bees to feast on in order to make delicious honey. Last weekend I searched for any sign that the sowing of clover seeds in February snow was a success. If you look closely, you can see some tiny clover leaves peeking through the ground cover of dead grass and fall leaves. All three hives made it through that -20 degree weather. I feel very fortunate, because many…
In this sub-zero, record-breaking weather I am afraid my bees might freeze. So the other night before the thermometer plunged to -20 wind chill, I went to the bee yard with some blankets. I couldn’t cover the front because they need to get air, even though it’s so cold. I was alone and feared I’d not be able to secure them well. I prayed for “an extra pair of hands”. When I got to the farm, a son-in-law was just…
The term “Beekeeper” entails more that robbing honey once a year. In order to be a good beekeeper, you have to keep a constant eye out for mites, destructive moths, and hive beetles. In winter, it’s wise to provide extra food for them in case they run out of their stored honey. There is no end to the tending. In order to provide my bees with plenty of flowers in summer, I sowed white clover the other day. These seeds…
As fall looms on the horizon, the bees know they have to make every minute count. Soon winter will be here and they and their fellow sister bees will be clustered in a tight clump in the frigid hive. The cold girls will work their way into the center where it’s warmer and closer to the food they’ve stored. When they are warm, they make room for the colder bees. You may ask, where are the males (drones). They’ve been…
This past weekend I attended a Fun Day for beekeepers. In order to show how bees cluster to their queen, two brave souls volunteered to let bees make bee beards on them. The speakers tied the queen of each hive in a small box under the chin of the volunteers. Then they dumped the queen’s hive on a tray under the volunteers chins. The bees clustered around the queen. This picture is the result! My books are available from Amazon.com…
Are you familiar with that saying, some days you’re the dog and some days you’re the fire hydrant? That’s how I felt last Saturday. A friend and I had planned for a long time to extract honey from her hives. I haven’t gotten any from my hives this year, but she had, and I had an extractor. For 40 years I’d stored that thing in my basement in its original box. I belonged to my dad. He’d planned to reestablish…
Beekeeping was one of those things on my bucket list, but as I hit 80 I thought that would be one thing that would be left in my bucket, unrealized. My dad and I kept bees in my younger years. We marketed it under the name “Uncle Hank’s Honey.” Then this spring some dear friends offered me a hive and I took them up on their offer. My son, Josh and I check them regularly. So far, they have laid…