The Honey Factory

[R2elk]

To Apis millifera, R2elk and Sally PB. Just the way I like snow, In Pictures!

It's melting pretty fast here.

 

[Apis mellifera]

A week from Wednesday, ie, 3 April, we have another bee meeting, and the subject is splits. Exactly what I need to learn about! I hope to split my colony, and I think I'll buy a queen from somebody in the club, if anyone has one for sale.

Perfect timely subject. If they have queens for sale that they produce thats good. On the other hand if the seller buys bulk queens its sometimes hit or miss, just like packages. Personally I would rather raise a daughter queen from your overwintered hive. They should cover that in the meeting.

 

[Sally PB]

If they have queens for sale that they produce thats good.

Yeah, these would be queens they produce.

The club is going to start its own apiary in conjunction with the local Junior College next spring. The JC wants to offer a class for credit. Also a better place for meetings, better AV set up, and possibilities for all kinds of informal classes (wax? honey? wanna make something out of it?) for beginners and experienced people. One of the board members works at the JC, and has a lot of connections.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

To Apis millifera, R2elk and Sally PB. Just the way I like snow, In Pictures!

I was petrified by these pictures! - Here in West Virginia spring broke out over the weekend, everything is becoming greener by the day.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

My packaged bees are on their way! Supposed to arrive here on Thursday. I plan to keep the hive inside of the garage so they will bee here Wednesday morning…

 

[R2elk]

My packaged bees are on their way! Supposed to arrive here on Thursday. I plan to keep the hive inside of the garage so they will bee here Wednesday morning…

One year a package got delayed in transit and arrived in the middle of a cold snap. Unfortunately the queen was dead. The company quickly replaced the package that arrived safely.

I put the bees in a hive body in the greenhouse. They defecated everywhere.

The bees that were alive got combined with the replacement package. The thing it taught me is not to put a bee hive in a building.

 

[Sally PB]

I put the bees in a hive body in the greenhouse. They defecated everywhere.

The bees that were alive got combined with the replacement package. The thing it taught me is not to put a bee hive in a building.

Wow. Thank you for that info; I would never have guessed this.

 

[R2elk]

Wow. Thank you for that info; I would never have guessed this.

Really, everything was covered in bee crap.

When there is a sunny day after a cold snowy spell, go out and look at all the spots on the snow from their cleansing flights. Then think how much more dense that is inside a confined space.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

One year a package got delayed in transit and arrived in the middle of a cold snap. Unfortunately the queen was dead. The company quickly replaced the package that arrived safely.

I put the bees in a hive body in the greenhouse. They defecated everywhere.

The bees that were alive got combined with the replacement package. The thing it taught me is not to put a bee hive in a building.

Its fine to put the hive into a building - as long as the bee-entrance is going to the outside.
My uncle had a bee-house with bee-hives integrated into one of the walls. The back of the hives was a glass-panel through which one could observe the bees. Usually covered with Styrofoam on plywood, but could be removed. I could have sat there for hours, but that wouldn't have been good for the bees…

 

[Sally PB]

Its fine to put the hive into a building - as long as the bee-entrance is going to the outside.

The president of our club did that when he got started, as keeping bees in the city of Grand Rapids was strictly on the DL. The ordinance has changed, and now he has 3 hives in his yard. And 12? 20? lots, in other locations.