The Honey Factory

[duluthralphie]

This happens regularly in Wyoming. It is predicted to be 50°F by Saturday and 60°F by Monday.

We have a full week without snow forecast!!

The only forecasted day with below freezing temps is Saturday.

Maybe I can plant tomatoes in the garden Sunday.

 

[Ursuline Chick]

The queen excluder is to keep the queen from laying eggs in the supers. Normally honey is only taken from the supers allowing the bees to keep any honey and pollen they have deposited in the hive bodies. If brood is allowed to be raised in the supers, you would have a much more difficult time trying to reap nice clean honey. It would make it pretty much impossible to sell honey without first filtering it.

In my case, she will have two deep hive bodies in which to lay her eggs.

When bought bees are first introduced to a hive, the queen comes in a cage because number one, the bees that she is shipped with are not the bees that raised her and already are devoted to her. She needs to be protected while the rest of the workers become acclimated to her. The cage entry is currently filled with a mini marshmallow that the workers will slowly remove by eating it. By the time the marshmallow is gone, the workers will know her as their queen and will not attack her.

In a few days when the weather has warmed back up, I will check the queen cage to see if the queen has been released. If she has been released, I remove the empty queen cage.

Wow, that was one of the most interesting and informative posts I have ever read. Thank you for taking the time to explain.

 

[R2elk]

It is 52°F now. A beautiful sunny day except for the wind howling through. There is less than 1% of the snow left with only a few spots in the shade.

The bees are out flying and sucking down sugar water. The first dandelion of the year is blooming.

One of the bees came to greet me at the truck when I was grabbing a sack of feed. It hitched a ride halfway back to the hives.

 

[duluthralphie]

Mine were gathering pollen today.

 

[Kgbao]

@R2elk

Thank you for the pictures that is amazing to see.. your a brave man no gloves or anythng. How is your thumb feeling.

 

[R2elk]

@R2elk

Thank you for the pictures that is amazing to see.. your a brave man no gloves or anything. How is your thumb feeling.

The swelling is almost gone. There is a 1/2" x 1" reddish area which is in the slightly itchy stage.

If I had been paying attention, I would not have gotten stung. The bee was on the base of my thumb when I started to pick something up which caused the bee to get squeezed. It did the only thing it knew how to do and stung me.

 

[Kgbao]

The swelling is almost gone. Their is 1/2" x 1" reddish area which is in the slightly stage.

If I had been paying attention, I would not have gotten stung. The bee was on the base of my thumb when I started to pick something up which caused the bee to get squeezed. It did the only thing it new how to do and stung me.

Glad it’s getting better.. sounds like it went fairly well..

You got a moment take a look and tell me what I’m missing.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/well-so-it-begins-coop-build.1358481/

 

[duluthralphie]

It’s suppose to be bee checking day.

I need to add feed for sure, but may forego opening the hive. Way too windy.

 

[R2elk]

It’s suppose to be bee checking day.

I need to add feed for sure, but may forego opening the hive. Way too windy.

If you do decide to open the hive, make sure the temperature is above 50°F.

It got up to 52°F yesterday and is already at 45°F this morning.

 

[Kgbao]

Silly question are you guys have a unusual cold spring? I don’t remember it being this cold, this late in the year when we lived in NH. Ya I know different geography, but similar parallels on the map.