Yum. Honey. I have been reading the book "Bee Keeping for Dummies," and to put it simply, the honey bee is simply amazing. Did you know the drone, male, tries to mate with the queen bee between 200 and 300 feet in the air then if he is one of the chosen ones to mate with her, falls to his death? Ha ha ha, I don't know why I find this particularly amusing...but I do. Something I did not know about bees was that the worker bees are female. Go figure. They are the ones that make the honey, nurse the baby bees and feed the queen. The queen is completely helpless besides reproducing. There is only one queen per colony (or box hive). The only thing she does is lay eggs. And she is replaced about every two years because she starts to lay less than 1500 eggs in a three hour time frame. Talk about a tough crowd to please. 

In a season, a colony (one hive) produces between 60-90 lbs of honey. That's so ridiculously amazing. To give you an idea of how much that is, one gallon weighs 11lbs. A worker bee has to visit five million flowers to produce a single pint of honey and they will travel up to three miles from the hive to find the resources they need. When the season comes to an end in the fall, the queen stops producing eggs and the worker bees kick the drones out because they eat too much and evidently die. If you are ever stung by a honeybee, which is unlikely because they are very docile, you have never been stung by a male or drone because he doesn't have a stinger. Speaking of stinging, my husband is allergic but was de-sensitized as a child. I guess we'll find out if it worked or not :/

I have purchased two colonies/hives. They were put together with the bees inside. If you want more about the pricing visit modernroots.org and click the finance tab. The price of bees isn't necessarily cheap - but that local honey is worth so much more. If you purchase honey within 300 miles you are less likely to have allergies to the pollen around you.

Honey bees produce more than just honey. You can also put their beeswax, propolis and royal jelly to good use. Beeswax alone is used in cosmetics and for medicinal purposes. It has even been allowed for those in European countries to pay their taxes with it. Royal jelly is fed to the queen, it is honey mixed with a chemical found in the nurse bees head. In health food stores it demands top pricing and it is traditionally used as a fertility treatment. Propolis, or bee glue is super sticky. The bees gather this from trees and plants. They use this to fill gaps in the hive and strengthen the honey comb. Propolis has antimicrobial qualities that can guard against fungus and bacteria. The Chinese have used propolis in their medicine for thousands of years. 

Honey bees are a critical part of my self-reliant goals. They pollinate the gardens which result in bigger more bountiful fruits and vegetables as well as pollinate the fruit trees I planted this fall. They are a small little bug that we rely on heavily for our food chain to make a complete circle but rarely take time to reflect how important they really are.
My bees have arrived. They arrived in a starter hive (one box deep) with the bees in them. Given it is May and in Minnesota, things are starting to bloom, I will need to add a second box this week in order to keep those little ladies producing for me. Bees require a lot of water. In order to cool their hive, reproduce, and make honey. I also gave them sugar water so they don’t start eating their supply of honey before they can really get to business with the pollen about to come. In mid-June, I will add a third box deep and possibly in August add a fourth. I should get 80-90lbs of honey per hive. Cannot wait to see how they do this year. Of course, my extra’s will be sold off at the Farmer’s Market for others to benefit from the local goodness.

Visit modernroots.org to follow my self-reliant journey and more about bees! ‘like’ on facebook at facebook.com/modernroots.org

It has been almost 1 year since I started out on beekeeping.  I hardly know everything, but the learning curve has been steep and I can say with confidence that I am a beekeeper.  I read all that I could get my hands on.  I took a local beekeeping class and joined the local beekeeper's association.  I networked with those around me.  My bees survived their first year and so did I.  Today, I thought that I would share with you some very important tips that I have picked up along this past year's journey. I cannot guarantee that these will work for you, but I can certainly share what has worked for me.

Feed your bees.  From most preliminary data gathered this year, it seems that most of my fellow beekeeper's hives perished this winter from starvation.  Bees need to eat and sometimes, we are located in places and climates less than optimal for them. All too often, Mother Nature does not provide as much as we would like.  Be sure to check the feeders once per week.  Try to keep them refilled on a regular consistent basis.

Become a believer in Honey B Healthy.  This stuff works.  It smells great and I believe really helped my hives to get off to a great start.  It is also wonderful to mist on your bees instead of the smoker.

Keep more than one hive.  Two hive are truly better than one.  Keeping two hives allows you to make comparisons between the two and become aware of issues earlier, discover what is "normal" vs. "abnormal", allows you to combine hives if one is not thriving come the colder seasons and also helps you to re-queen a hive absent of a queen and any brood.

Find a Mentor.  If are lucky enough to find a mentor who has at least kept bees successfully for 3 years than consider yourself to have one of the greatest assets in the hobby.  Treat them to lunch or dinner now and then and the relationship will grow and thrive.  It is a nice way to return the favor of their time and expertise.

Never underestimate the supply of bobby pins at the local drug store come spring.  Every spring around here there is a huge shortage because folks are building their frames and support the foundation with bobby pins.  Watch all year round for sales and pick them up during alternative times.  They will sell out.

Watch Sugar Prices.  Hungry bees can gobble up to 5 pounds or more of sugar in a week.  Look for sales and watch the club stores.  Always keep an extra 10 pound bag on hand for those unexpected situations.

Check on your bees.  Open your hives on sunny warm days when the bees are flying and the breeze is minimal.  Take a quick assessment and be sure there are signs of the queen. It is not always necessary to find the queen.  Just be sure she is there, laying a healthy pattern of brood.  Be sure to assess for any pests, parasites or signs of disease.

Watch your bees.  Get in the habit of watching your bees from outside the hive.  See if they are returning to the hive loaded down with pollen.  Monitor for robber bees.  Watch for any signs of impostors entering the hives and be on alert for bee predators such as skunks.

Follow beekeeping practices as others do in your area of the country.  Be sure that you are adapting practices of keeping bees that are appropriate for your gardening zone and climate.  Some folks never deal with freezing weather.  Some people harvest honey year round.   Some beehives spend all winter covered in snow.

2012 turned out to be a big year for us, full of many little victories.  After all the horrible setbacks of 2011 we are mighty grateful!  Words can’t even express how blessed and grateful!

Last year at this time and through February, we were clearing dead trees to create our little home site.  We put planted the garden in March and installed about 300 feet of water lines.  The house was delivered in April and we moved in towards the end of that month.  

In May, we celebrated our seventh wedding anniversary and we also added to our furry pack – a pup from the shelter that we named Cisco.  Gracie the cat still doesn’t like him, even though she has always lived with dogs.  Go figure.  (Cisco weighed 10 pounds when we brought him home, and now, at 9 months, he’s up to 70+ pounds!) About a week later, a lost kitty found her way to our little farm.  We named her Two Socks; she’s the best dog we have.

In June we started fencing a backyard.  We came up with our own design, and now that “phase one” is done, we have to brag just a little – it’s a pretty darn nice looking fence!  

In June we also canned 30 pints of homegrown diced tomatoes and I started making homemade yogurt every week.  We ate tons of zucchini and yellow squash from the garden and put 15 pounds of homegrown tomatillos in the freezer for making green enchilada sauce later.  The backyard fencing project continued all summer.  

In August, our wonderful, sweet, oldest dog Maggie passed away unexpectedly.   Oh how she is missed by all of us!  But her spirit is ever-present in the pasture.  Furry sister Ellie has never quite been the same.  You’ll never convince us that animals don’t grieve! 

In September we celebrated our one year pasture anniversary!  Looking back at pictures, the pasture looked like a moon scape the year before.  But with some tender loving care and some blessed winter rains, it came roaring back to life!  We’re in desperate need of rain still, but hope to start cutting hay this next year.  I also started making all of our own bread in September – we don’t buy it from the store anymore.  

In October, an itty, bitty kitten showed up at the farm.  He couldn’t have been more than 6-8 weeks old, if that.  He started out as Kicking Bird (KB), but he’s so fast, we now call him Dash.  Then a few days later, another kitten, about 3 or 4 months old, showed up.  We named her Nala because we had just seen the Lion King on tv and she kind of looks like Nala.  So now we have barn kitties, but no barn…yet.   In the meantime, Dash has recently decided he likes being a man of leisure and has moved inside and made himself right at home.  It frightens us to think of what they went through to make it to us – especially Dash.  How dangerous it was for them to be on their own out there.  Whatever happened, we’re glad they showed up to be a part of our family.  

We had broccoli and green and purple cabbage in the winter garden.  The wild extremes in our temps killed it all off.  We weren’t prepared this year with a cold frame.  And after days of high 70s and low 80s, who could have predicted it would drop to 18 degrees in 24 hours!   And it’s done that a couple of times.  Unseasonably warm to unusually cold.   But the beauty of mild winters is that there is time to try some cabbage again (I’ll be growing heirloom varieties from seed).  I’m getting the seeds started in the house and will transplant in January.  It should be done producing by the time the spring air starts to warm and spring garden seedlings and are ready to be transplanted.  

On that note, we are already making plans for the spring garden.  We will stick with strictly heirloom varieties like we did last year.  Only this year, we will endeavor to save seeds.  Learned that lesson just this week…one of the tomatoes we liked the most was the Sioux variety.  But the seed company we bought from last year doesn’t have them this year.  I’m sure there are other great varieties, but we will hopefully still have good germination from the seeds we bought last year and will definitely save our own seeds for the future.  

We have also started phase two of our fencing plan, which will include a chicken/duck run and coops.  We were planning to have it all done in time for spring chicks/ducklings.  And we’re making good progress now that it’s not so hot outside!  But everything has been kicking into high gear after receiving a surprise Christmas present of a pair of two-week old chicks!  They are living in the laundry room in a large box for now, but will need outdoor quarters in the very near future!

 
Oh!  I almost forgot...we have some bees ordered for this spring too!  We're excited to try once again and hope to have better luck this time around.  The hives are already built, so we're ready to go. 

Happy New Year to you all!  May your year be filled will health, joy and creativity!

Until next time...worms rock and bees rule. 

The more I learn about beekeeping, the more I love our chickens! 

Just kidding...while I do love the girls and their farm-fresh eggs, they're really
pretty low maintenance. This time of year I'm keeping an eye on the temperature
in the coop, plugging in the heated waterer on frosty nights, surrounding the
coop with straw bales, and adding lots of shavings & straw inside the coop
to keep the girls snug for the winter to come.

The bees, on the other hand, have given me much more reason to read...read...read.
They too were pretty low maintenance in the summer, but now my goal has shifted
from hoping not to get stung, to doing all I can to keep them alive through the
winter. 

The bee inspector says they have plenty of honey stores, and that's a good
thing...it's the food storage they'll use to survive this coming winter. My
mouse guard is in place (evidently hives are considered a cozy winter spot for
the field mice!) and now that the temperatures have dropped to the 20's at
night, I have straw bales surrounding the hive to screen it from the chilly
winds. This weekend I'll wrap the hive in tar paper, replace the bales, then
cross my fingers and wait for spring.

With a break in the weather recently, I've put a ventilation box on the hive. Our neighbor 
has one she used successfully last year, and so we patterned ours to be very similar.

The box is used to give any moisture that builds up a way to escape. Filled with
fiberglass insulation, it also works to prevent condensation from developing on
the underside of the outer cover. If this cold condensation is allowed to form,
it drips down on the bee cluster chilling them to the point that they may not
survive.

To make the box, start with a spare super that fits your hive. A 1-1/2
inch spade drill bit is used to add holes to the sides of the super...2 on each
side.

Each hole is then covered and secured from the inside with #8 hardware cloth. A
length of fiberglass screen is stapled across the bottom opening of the box and
insulation is added as the final step.

Our neighbor's box has several narrow slats across the bottom; however, she
fills her box with sawdust, so the slats work to keep the sawdust in
place.  We opted to use fiberglass insulation in our box, and so didn't
add the slats.

To install the box, remove the outer and inner covers. The ventilation box
will sit directly on the frames of the top hive body. Replace the
outer cover (no inner cover needed) then add two bricks to keep the cover in
place during the winter winds. Periodically during the winter, if a warm days
occurs, I'll quickly peek inside the box to see that it's doing it's job.

And so my learning continues! 

Here's hoping all is well in the hive, and that they've settled down for a long winter's nap.

I never had considered keeping bees.  As I learned of serious challenges they faces in our world today, I began to think about keeping a hive or two on our property.  It has been estimated that one in every three bites of food we consume is possible through the work of honeybees.  The importance of their work and existence was taken for granted for years.  Today, their existence is vulnerable and scientists are finally dedicating research efforts to ensure their survival for future generations.

Four years ago I discovered that our town not only welcomes the keeping of bees, but also has a local association that offers an introductory class.  This past Winter as snow fell on the ground, I immersed myself in everything bees including taking their course.

One of the biggest questions that I had prior starting out on my honey bee keeping journey had to do with how the chickens and the bees will coexist in my yard.  I was nervous.  I knew nothing about keeping bees, yet I knew a lot about keeping chickens.  I wondered to myself.  Will the bees sting the chickens?  Will the chickens bother the beehives?  What will happen if the bees swarm?  Can my chickens still free range in the yard with beehives present?

I have read beekeeping books cover to cover multiple times and I've been busy browsing the internet for videos and resources. The learning curve has been huge.  I feel as though I have learned so much yet have only touched the tip of the iceberg.  I look forward to attending each new class.  When I'm there, my mind is no longer focused on kids' homework, laundry and dinner plans, but on the intricacies of colony life and the hive.

Apparently, bees and chickens can get along famously.

Chickens can happily free range even with bee hives present.  Sometimes, they like to hang out in front of the hive snacking on bees that are fully loaded with pollen coming in for a landing returning to the hive.  If this is the case, chickens can be deterred with temporary fencing.

People who live in areas with bears keep their hives inside of the chicken's run for safety. Chickens will hop on top and roost on the hives, happily coexisting.  Flock keepers, as a precaution, will lock the chickens into the coop when the hives need to be opened or manipulated.

Chickens will pick clean the areas under the hives, cleaning up hive debris and dead bees.  They will also eat live bugs and beetles that prey on the hives.

Chickens will pick honey comb clean of unwanted and unnecessary debris.

Some people place their hives on the roofs of their chicken coops.

Sometimes, chickens will get stung, but not often.

Swarming bees will not bother chickens.  Apparently, swarming honey bees are rather docile.

Early this past Spring, I completed building my hives.  They are sat in the garage waiting for the warmth of Spring to receive a fresh coat of paint and to be located outside in a sweet sunny spot.  This past May, I picked up my bees from a beekeeper in New York State.  Today, I am happy to report that the two hives are now bustling with bees as they build their new home outside of our kitchen window.  I am officially a beekeeper.

I feel it is so important to at least try to make a difference in the world in which we live; even if it is as small as keeping a couple of beehives.  So, if you please, I invite you to come along on our newest journey of keeping bees for the first time.  Along the way, I will try and share with you what I have learned, successes and failures.  I hope maybe to inspire some of you to take a leap of faith in your life and try something new, even if it makes you a tad bit nervous.

If you would like to read more about my life with the bees click here.

Disclaimer:  In certain parts of the United States, Africanized bees exist.  We do not have these bees anywhere near Cape Cod.  Keeping honey bees in an area where Africanized bees are known to exist, may require additional safe guards that I have not researched and are necessary for keeping your honey bees and chickens healthy in your area.  I would strongly advise you to investigate if you live in an area with Africanized bees.

We learned a hard lesson on the farm here last week, one I feel is worth sharing in the hopes that others might learn from it.  We lost our entire colony of bees due to starvation.

This year in South Carolina, we've had a very mild winter.  I'm hard-pressed to even call it winter, it's been so warm.  Several times, I've spent the day with the windows thrown wide open, and I know there was at least one time in January that the children and I were running around in shorts.  No matter how long I live here, I'll never get used to it.  In my mind, winter is supposed to be all about bundling up, scarves and mittens, sitting near the fire with a hot cuppa in your hands, and getting your outside chores done as quick as you can to get back inside.  But here we are building greenhouses, tilling gardens, repairing fences, starting seeds and being excited about the progress of our garlic bed.
 
But the blessing of warmer temperatures had a consequence we didn't anticipate.  Just a day or two before, we were both sure we'd seen bees coming in and out as usual, but on Thursday morning there was no activity to be seen and no buzzing to be heard.  We opened it up and found all the bees dead.
 
I'll confess that our first reaction was to immediately suspect a spray of some kind.  After the experience last year of having the local power company drive through our area unannounced spraying herbicide and killing not only the wild blackberries around our mailbox but every other piece of vegetation in sight, I don't think you can blame us.  But after a little research and a conversation online with a master beekeeper, the truth became clear.  With a milder winter, and the start of the spring brood, the bees expended a lot of energy looking for pollen that couldn't be found, which caused them to eat through their stores a lot faster than we anticipated.  Our strong, thriving colony had starved.

We're putting our beekeeping endeavors on hold for now.  Replacing the bees is not in our budget and most apiaries are sold out.  Perhaps next year we'll be in a position to give it another go, but for now we hope that others will benefit from our lesson.  If you keep bees and your temperatures are mild, don't assume that everything's fine.  Check with experienced beekeepers in your area, and don't be afraid to give your bees a little help by feeding them.  Hopefully, it'll only be a few more weeks before spring truly arrives and you can sit back and enjoy watching your bees do what bees do best.  
 

What a week it was! It started with an earthquake and ended with a hurricane. Then we were without power for five days. The bees, however, seemed to take it all in stride.

I never expected a 5.8 magnitude earthquake in rural Virginia, but there it was. I was inside the house when the ground rumbled like a huge truck was driving by. Then the chandelier started to sway, and I could hear the glasses in the cupboard clinking. Outside, the bees took no notice.

I was more worried about the predicted wind and rain associated with Hurricane Irene when it roared up the East coast. The master beekeeper who provides guidance at our monthly beekeeping club meetings sent around an advisory by e-mail several days prior to the storm.

At that time the winds were projected to be in excess of 110 kts at times, which was much more severe than we’d had in a long time.  “Winds at that strength can really cause problems with our hives, and it is in our best interest to prepare the hives as well as possible before the onslaught,” he wrote.

He advised us to secure our hives to their stands by using a ratchet strap, or tightly pulled line.  The theory is that if the hive bodies are tightly bound, they stand a better chance of not separating even if they do blow over.  Then he suggested adding extra weight on top of the hives, like heavy concrete pavers and blocks.The lighter the hive, the higher the probability is of it turning over in high winds.

My one hive just sits on a couple of loose concrete blocks, so I was plenty worried. I rummaged down in the basement and found a tie-down strap of some type and tied it roughly around the hive body. Then I placed two concrete blocks on top. It wasn’t the prettiest of set-ups, but I hoped it would be serviceable. Then I waited.

By the next morning it began to drizzle. By afternoon, it became a downpour, the wind started to pick-up and the electricity went off. It was a long night of howling wind.

But by morning Hurricane Irene was gone, and I was relieved to see just a few limbs down on my property. My bees were also spared. I think they were more ticked by the rain that followed off and on the whole following week. The wet weather prevented the forager bees from making their rounds amid the smattering of fall-blooming flowers. 

The autumn nectar flow is much smaller than the spring’s supply. We have goldenrod, wild aster and a wild flowering clematis, but not a lot else in my part of the state. I continue to feed the bees their sugar water and will do so as late as I can before the weather becomes frigid.

Some of you have wondered about the cost of getting into beekeeping. I’ll give you full details in my next posting. But here’s a small preview: Like most hobbies, it’s going to cost you money, not make you money. You do it because you enjoy it.

More in my next posting. 

Time has passed since I wrote my first post, and I’m happy to tell you that my second queen bee has been laying eggs successfully, increasing the bee population in my hive. And here’s how I know!

From the time a queen bee lays an egg, to the time a fully-formed bee emerges from its capped comb, takes 21 days. I took off a month to head north and get out of the hellacious summer of Virginia. During that time, a gracious (and brave) neighbor fed sugar syrup to my bees every other day.

My colony of bees was small and reigned over by a young queen. The life expectancy of a worker bee is six weeks or less when they are actively foraging for nectar. By the first week of July, the nectar and pollen flow slows down to a snail’s pace. There’s not much blooming in mid-summer. I needed my queen to lay eggs and lay fast. So to make it less stressful for the bees, they got their sugar water from a simple feeder.

The feeder is a quart jar with tiny holes pricked in the cap. When set upside down in its wooden stand, the bees are able to enter through an opening and reach the syrup oozing out the holes. The recipe is one part sugar dissolved in one part hot water, with a tablespoon of wine vinegar mixed in. This “bee brew” is the best formula for stimulating egg laying.

Chow time at the bee feeder. 

Upon my return home, I needed to open up my hive and check out how all was going. It had been a hot spell, and I thought it would be best to do my inspection early in the day, before the heat became too intense. First mistake!

There were a LOT of bees in the hive. The forager bees had not headed out in search of nectar yet.

I was too complacent about my protective garb. Second mistake!

Up to this point, the bees had been so docile because they had little to guard. I neglected to tie the cords around my pant legs. I failed to wear a long sleeve shirt under my gloves, so bare skin was visible through the mesh ventilation cuffs.

And then I skipped lighting my smoker. Third mistake!

The smoker creates a smoky mist by burning either store-bought inflammable fuel or tinder-dry leaves off the ground. When puffed out over the bees, it masks the scent of the hive, temporarily confusing them so they remain calm.

So, thus ill-prepared, I took the top off the hive, pried off the inner cover and started to check out the individual frames of comb in the top box. The bees were not pleased.

Suddenly I was surrounded by mob of angry bees. My face was protected, but not my arms where the mesh was. Then I became aware that bees were climbing up my legs. I was getting stung! After all, bees do what bees do!

I threw the tops back on the hive and ran like the wind, whooping and hollering, and swatting bees left and right! I must have looked pretty funny.

When my escape was complete, I surveyed the carnage. I’d killed a number of bees in my flight, and with 15 stings on my arms and legs, that meant 15 more dead bees. Oh, the humanity! I shall not make that mistake again.

On the other hand, I can certainly say I now have an active hive. Tomorrow I shall try opening up the hive again. You can be sure I’ll be dressed appropriately and properly equipped.

I’ll keep you posted!

New bees, bringing home the goodies. 

Most of what I know about bees I learned as we compiled our latest installment of Grit’s Country Skills Series, our new Guide to Backyard Bees and Honey. I’ve always loved honey, and I’ve found a local source, which is even better – both for me and the environment.

So as I showed off the bee guide at a recent family reunion, I was amazed when my cousin told me about a new documentary all about bees, Queen of the Sun: What Are the Bees TellingUs? And I was even more amazed to discover on my return to the office that we had received a copy of the documentary.  

I’ve watched it twice. 

With captivating imagery and compelling interviews, Queen of the Sun explores the world of the honeybee, the threatening landscape facing both the honeybee and humankind, and what we might be able to do about the crisis.

Director Taggart Siegel (he also made The Real Dirt on Farmer John) opens with biodynamic beekeeper Gunther Hauk talking about colony collapse disorder and continues with a number of amazing, interesting and thought-provoking interviews with a wide variety of experts.

It seems that in 1923, Rudolf Steiner, an Austrian scientist, predicted the collapse of honeybees within 80 to 100 years. As Hauk says, “Colony collapse disorder is the bill we are getting for all we have done to bees.” The documentary discusses the problem, highlighting the devastating effects of pesticides and genetically modified crops, and what happens when we have a monoculture agricultural system that includes migratory bee hives.

One expert calls monoculture a desert for bees. With only one crop producing pollen only a few weeks of the year, bees are unable to live in those areas, so farmers are forced to bring in hives from around the country to pollinate crops. The migratory beekeepers load hundreds of hives onto semitrailers and drive to where the crops are, often across the entire country. Not only does this stress the bees, the beekeepers use artificial means (high-fructose corn syrup and antibiotics) to maintain the hives, plus any diseases that hives from one region may have are then passed on to all the other hives arriving to help a single crop be pollinated.

Then we have the use of pesticides – some say the overuse of pesticides – which many believe is the root cause of colony collapse disorder. An entomologist interviewed for Queen of the Sun talks about a new class of pesticides, called neonicotinoids, that are neurotoxic, affecting a bee’s ability to learn, remember and navigate. Thus bees are unable to find their way back to their hive.

All in all, the information found in Queen of the Sun is overwhelmingly scary, but the filmmakers present it in such as way as to be more thought-provoking than fearful. And they offer some wonderful solutions to the problem.

What about a monoculture farmer setting aside a portion of his land for a bee-friendly smorgasbord of plants, allowing bees to live on his property all year round? What about everyone putting a honeybee hive in their garden, or on their city rooftop?

While Queen of the Sun offers many questions, it also offers some answers, and an amazing array of people who are passionate about bees, beekeeping and the future of the planet. It’s a delightful documentary well worth seeing.

Two years ago we added bees to the Chiot's Run Family. We picked up 10,000 ladies from Dave, a local guy who sells them. He knows what he's talking about, these were the hives in his front yard.

On our way home Mr Chiot's looked at me and said, "This has the makings of a horrible nightmare. The story would go something like this, 'I picked up my package of bees and all was going well. I heard something in the back of the car and then a swarm of bees attacked my face. I ran off the road into a ditch ....'" We had a good laugh about that on our way home. Such a common misconception that bees are dangerous!

When we arrived home we proceeded to follow Dave's instructions for, "the easy way to install a new package of bees". It's much different than the way the books tell you to do it. We decided his way sounded great, and since he's a veteran beekeeper we figured he knew what he was talking about.

First we pried to lid off of the box of bees, then we removed the can of sugar syrup and the queen cage (the queens come in their own little cage inside the bigger cage of bees). Then you put the small wooden lid back on to keep the bees inside until you want to release them.

Then the box of bees is placed in an empty super on top of the bottom board of the hive (lid on it's removed after we get the queen cage suspended above). This process takes the place of banging the box of bees and then dumping them into the hive, this seemed like a much "nicer" option both for us and the bees.

We taped a piece of wood over the opening of the hive to keep the bees inside until we move them outside (this afternoon when it's warm).

We then proceeded to hang the queen cage in a super with frames (the part the bees build comb on) above the empty box that has the bee cage in it. We wired her in so that the bees could still reach her. She will be released into the hive in 3 days (thanks for the question Christy).

Her cage gets placed over to the side so that the jar of sugar syrup that you put on top to feed them doesn't drip on her and get her wet.

After placing the super with the queen on top of the box that has the bee cage in it, remove the lid from the box of bees below, then place a the inner hive cover with a jar of sugar syrup on top so that the bees have something to eat.

Then you put an empty box or two (we used 2 because they were small ones) and then the hive cover to keep them warm and to keep them inside. It was a much easier process than we were expecting, thanks to Dave's great installation instructions and the cold weather which makes the bees pretty lethargic. We'll definitely be using this method whenever we instal bees from now on!

We kept our bees in the garage for a few days as Dave recommended because it was really cold outside (dipping down into the teens). When the weather warmed up after 2-3 days we moved the hive outside into it's finally destination. Then we released the queen a few days later. Our bees did well that summer and last summer, but they failed to survive this past long cold winter. That means we'll be doing this again, only we're hoping to build Warre hives to put them in (an old fashioned top bar hive).

Do you have bees in your garden or would you ever consider getting them? 

I can also be found at Chiot's Run where I blog daily about gardening, cooking, local eating, maple sugaring, and other interesting things. You can also find me at Ethel Gloves, Simple, Green, Frugal, Co-op, Not Dabbling in Normal, and you can follow me on Twitter.  

This time we will look at the equipment we use to house the bees. First I will list the equipment we are using to start up these new hives.

The type of bee is Russian. Their main traits are: very resistant to the mites, fast build up in the spring, slow down raising new bees when food supply slow down, gentle to handle, winter in smaller clusters there by needing less food.

The hive body is a polystyrene hive box by BeeMax.

It is 1 ½ inches thick with an R value of at least 3 which will help the bees just like insulation in our walls helps keep our houses at a constant temperature. I will have one hive of wood, since it was cheaper and I hadn’t planned on three complete hives this year. I will wrap it next winter though.

The foundation is small cell 4.9mm pure wax. The cell size is what the bees will naturally build for their brood area if left to their own devices. Someone in the past thought bigger bees would be better, and they where for a time. Researchers have found that the varro mite likes to hatch in the bigger cell, drone cell preferably. So the smaller, natural cell helps to discourage mite population growth. It is hard to find small cell foundation, although suppliers are starting to offer more choices. I did order three plastic frames from Mann-Lake that are small cell. If the bees accept these frames I will probably go to them.

The frames for the comb I bought from Walter T Kelley supply. The included picture shows a grove in the top of the frame into which you insert the foundation. It works really well and saves time installing the foundation. The only drawback is the assembly of the frame. Wintertime is the perfect time for assembly though. When you can’t work with the bees, you can still keep close to your hobby by getting equipment ready for the spring. A sturdy workbench is advisable. It takes time to assemble so you need to be comfortable so it doesn’t turn into a chore.

In the supply catalogs you will see 8-frame equipment and 10-frame equipment. A few years ago they started the 8-frame line to reduce the weight of the hives for easier handling. I am using 10-frame equipment because I like the bigger brood area. Also when it comes to painting the hives, they are usually painted white. This is generally done to keep the hive cooler in the summer, which is fine but. I believe a bee sees basically what we do, so the next time the sun is out go up to a white building and try to look at it. You cannot look directly at the building, so I am going to paint the area above the entrance with a color. Research has been done at what bees recognize best by Dr. Karl Von Frisch. They also use these colors to recognize their own hive. The colors are: yellow, blue, orange, violet.

The bottom board is generally a solid piece of wood raised enough to allow an entrance at the bottom of the hive. Now with the presence of the varro mite, beekeepers are starting to use a screened bottom board that allow any mites that fall from the bees to fall through the bottom board thus eliminating them from the hive. With a solid bottom board the mite falls to the floor and waits for the next available bee. If you have hygienic bees that groom the mites off, this can be a big help and no chemicals are involved. I will be building my own. The ones for sale look okay, but it looks as though they have a very fine mesh wire for the bottom. Common sense says that cappings and other debris will soon fill the holes and you are no better off. My plans are to use a bigger screen size, say like for a rabbit cage, to allow everything to fall through.

Syrup feeders come in many different varieties. My choice is a top feeder from Mann-Lake. The bees feed from the center of the feeder instead of the end. This should allow the bees to feed even when its colder outside since they can stay toward the center of the hive. Also a hive top feeder can be refilled without opening the brood nest and possibly chilling the young brood. Along with syrup feeding which the bees use for their carbohydrates, they also need protein in the form of pollen or pollen substitute. Real pollen is the best, but its expensive. Pollen substitute with real pollen added is a good alternative. Pollen is needed in order for the eggs and larvae to be fed a good healthy diet while growing. The wax makers building new comb need the sugar syrup in order to build new comb. So both are necessary.

Now lets move to the actual apiary site. A good location should have the morning sun, face away from the prevailing wind, have good drainage, be protected from strong winds and look for any potential hazards for the hives like falling limbs. I have a lot of deer around my place so I will place my hives along a fence so the deer don’t run over a hive in the middle of the night. Spacing is another thing to think about. Bees do drift and Italian bees are know for robbing. Place your colonies a ways apart if possible. If not slightly turn the hives at angles from each other. It doesn’t look nice and tidy but that’s not our goal. Also be sure the hive is on a sturdy foundation. A hive full of bees and honey could weight 200 pounds or more. Remember you will also need room to work the hives, needing to sit a hive body to one side sometimes. Running room is sometimes needed too! Don’t forget about ‘WATER’. The bees use lots of water. It is used for cooling the hive along with their other needs. If you see water in burr comb on top of the frames, that is the bees air conditioning. I cools the hive and keeps the humidity level where the bees need it to be. If you don’t have a constant supply of water the bees can count on they will go to the neighbors swimming pool or bird bath which will probably not sit well with them.

The things for you will be a veil, gloves, smoker for quieting the bees, a hive tool, bee brush and clothing the bees cannot get caught in, something like kaki clothing.

Bee catalogs are a wealth of information. They will send you a catalog for free and I would recommend the following suppliers:

Betterbee (my favorite)
Mann-Lake
Dadant
Walter T Kelley

In looking through some old photos I found this picture of my grandpa and my dad on a TO-20 Ferguson tractor cultivating a cotton field in July 1958. I noticed a beehive in the background.

What?!? Love bees, are you crazy, how can you love a bee that stings? Those of us who keep bees are considered kind of different. But let me say that there is no bee like the honeybee. Bees produce many products for us and they stir within us a deep appreciation for the undying love they have for the colony. An individual bee will only live 3 to 4 weeks in the summer and work herself literally to death for the rest of the colony. She will make honey she will never eat. She is tireless in her work. If we could only emulate a small part of her character in our lives. Mankind does not benefit from any other insect more than we do from the honeybee. The honeybee colony pollinates our crops, which gives us more food from the field. She turns nectar from the flower into honey, she turns honey into beeswax, and we also use other products from the hive. Just think how the pioneers benefited from honey for food, a great sweetener and ingredient in cooking, beeswax for candles, waterproofing and sealing their canned vegetables. We love the honeybee because she does so much for us and we also enjoy the Art of Keeping Bees. We beekeepers love to talk about bees and this is why I am sharing with you my time with the bees. Come aboard and join the fascinating world of the Honeybee! Bee careful you might just catch bee fever!

Hi y’all, greetings from the Ozarks of Missouri, I’m glad to be here. The purpose of this blog is to inform and share with you the Art of Beekeeping. It is an art because there is no specific way to do it, each beekeeper has his or her own way of doing things and his/her own ideas about how to manage the bees, hopefully the outcome will be healthy bees and a good honey crop.

I am not an expert. I haven’t had bees in quite some time, but I have kept up with what has been going on in the beekeeping world and I have done a lot of reading and common sense thinking.

I have had the bee fever (explanation later) since before high school, a long time ago. I have finally succumbed to the fever and without total support from my wife, decided now is the time to jump back in with both feet. I have put together a roadmap of how to keep the bees alive and produce a honey crop. Only time will tell if it will work. I have read every article in Bee Culture magazine for the last five years and tried to decipher what will and will not work to keep the bees alive and producing.

Just to touch on the problems of the last 20 years when all the problems started with mites and disease. Around 80% of the beehive population and 99% of the feral bee population was wiped out by the varro mite which attaches itself to the bee and feeds off of it until the bee dies, and the mites also spread disease. Then, as you have probably heard about, we have CCD or Colony Collapse Disorder, where the bees disappear leaving the queen, a few bees and the brood in the hive. At this point we do not know exactly what causes it, only the symptoms up to the point when the bees disappear. Right now it points to nutrition and pesticides, possibly. But still with all these problems beekeepers still love their bees and will replace them when they die and try again.

Let’s explore “bee fever.” When I was a teenager, my best friend and I went to stay the night at his grandmother’s house. In her big barn, up in the hayloft was a huge feral bee colony that had built its comb onto the back wall of the barn. The barn was no longer used much for hay so the bees were left to themselves. We went up there and with a stick broke off the comb on the outside edge that had the honey. We ate some and chewed the beeswax just like gum. We took the rest and put it in a metal cup and set it on her warm morning stove overnight. In the morning the honey had separated from the wax, and we had pure honey for our pancakes. After this I had a love for bees and the bee fever. It wasn’t long after that, a teacher at school learned of my interest in bees and gave me a Walter T. Kelley catalog, thus started my beekeeping hobby. I had three or four colonies when I left for college. I ordered the equipment and one package of bees when I had 60 acres, but other things took my time so I sold that colony to a young man.

That brings us up to the here and now. I have a 10 year old son that I think will like working with bees, and I have the desire more than ever to get bees again. As I stated earlier, I am jumping in with both feet. I have three packages of Russian bees ordered, the first one to be here the last of April and the other two to be here the last of May. I will be sharing with you the beginning and the growth of Windy Ridge Apiary. My goals are to expand my apiary, sell nucs in the spring, and educate anyone interested in beekeeping. This blog is my first step in the education endeavor.

Windy Ridge Apiary is located in Southwest Missouri on 20 acres. I have built all the buildings and house on the place. Six years ago the area was hit by a tornado and stripped of the fences, barn and mobile home that were here. I bought it from the man who owned it when the tornado came through. I now have everything finished enough that I can concentrate on turning this 20 acres of grass into a food producing farm.

I am planning on some feeder calves, couple of sheep and, of course, chickens. We have one hen now that is about five years old that has survived attacks by dogs in town and opossum out here. Other chicks will soon join her as Orscheln is now selling chicks. Enough about me and the place. My goal here is to talk about honeybees. Most beekeepers are happy to talk about their bees, they are fascinating insects.

As a reader of GRIT, you are interested in the rural life and the things that go on out in the sticks. You like to hear about gardening, canning, sheep, cattle, etc. The honeybee is just as much a part of the farm as the others. Back when many farmers in the country had a cow for milk, a garden for vegetables, and chickens for eggs and meat, they also had a hive of bees for honey and the much used beeswax. My hope is that with more people moving out of the city to small acreages, they would consider a hive of honeybees a part of the rural life as much as a horse or calf, if not a hive at least plant some clover or wildflowers on the land. Grass is pretty but doesn’t help our wildlife, plus it has to be mowed to look nice

In the following months I will tell you how to establish a hive of honeybees and how to take care of them. We’ll talk about equipment and its many variables. Even the honeybee comes in different strains, which we will also go over. Most anywhere you live (with the exception of places where there are ordinances against having honeybees) you can have a single hive. They are easy to take care of, and one hive won’t cost that much or take that much extra time, while at the same time giving you the satisfaction of knowing you are helping pollinate the plants in your area and producing pure delicious honey.

Towards the end of April we’ll be installing that new package of bees, so stay tuned. If you have questions, just post in the comments, and I will cover what topics you’re interested in. Thanks for reading.