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Posts in category: bees

up the bees

by beesfarthing farm

Up the bees

Posted on February 10, 2012 by

A bit of early spring weather has flowers popping up all over the yard. The purple crocuses are moving into their fifth week up and about, while the daffodils are threatening to pop. All over town there are signs of spring, and there is no doubt that things are happening very early this year. It looks like my plan to constantly burn raw coal in an open pit in the backyard is finally working out and hastening climate change.

I moved away from the cold of New York a long time ago. I did so for quite a few reasons – I hate winter jackets, brown slush and people complaining about the weather. Oh, and those same people complaining about how high the tax rates are in New York. “Yes, I get it. No, it isn’t fair at all. Could you pass the gallon of ranch dressing?”

In Western New York, I would never dream of seeing a honey bee out and about on a January day. The best flower a bee could hope for at that time of year would be on the wallpaper of the downstairs bathroom, with that strong smell of “flowers” coming from a recent blast of air freshener.

But I was happy to see that someone in our neighborhood keeps bees and that there was enough pollen available already to fill their legs.

Ever since taking classes in Wilmington on beekeeping I have been interested in pursuing it as a hobby. However, the more I have thought about it the less interest I have had in harvesting honey and using the bees as a food source. They have enough to deal with without someone like me coming and disturbing their work. But thanks to Sam at Anarchy Apiaries I discovered a more basic way of keeping bees, a way that lets the bees do their work, swarm if they want to, build comb at the size they feel is most efficient. The bees can live as pollinators not as a honey bank.

 

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About Trace

Trace lives in Durham, NC with his partner Kristin. They are expecting their first child in April 2012.
Trace is not a talker. Trace also thinks it is a little weird to talk about himself in the third person.

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bee school weeks two and three

by bees

Bee school weeks two and three

Posted on April 2, 2008 by

Some of the highlights from the last two weeks of bee school –

    • Bees need to be in full sun and facing the rising morning sun. When the sun passes beyond the hive and it goes into shadow, the bees are done working for the day. If the bees are in shade, they may not work as much.
    • Two thirds of purchased packaged bees will die before the queens new eggs start hatching. This puts the colony at a disadvantage as opposed to if the colony was purchased as a functioning nuc.
    • Only 10% of swarming hives will survive. It is mainly because old bees are in the swarm, and it will take 31 days before new worker bees are hatched and ready.
    • Cypress is the best wood for bee boxes while pine is best for frames. Pine bee boxes must be painted.
    • The standard hive setup is two deep boxes for the bees and three medium boxes for the honey.
    • It takes a frame of food to make a frame of brood.
    • A shared honey extractor is no good because it also shares disease.
    • Use as little smoke as possible when manipulating a hive.

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bee school week one

by bees

Bee school week one

Posted on March 17, 2008 by

Saturday morning was the first session of the beekeeping class that I signed up for last month. There were over a hundred people in the class, which is a very good sign of the current interest in beekeeping. At the end of the class (in eight weeks) there will be an opportunity to take a written and practical test to become a Certified Beekeeper.

According to the North Carolina State Beekeepers Association master beekeeper webpage, there are 3,500 individuals in the master beekeeper program of which seventy five are Master Beekeepers and twelve are Master Craftsman Beekeepers. The rest are Certified Beekeepers, the entry level.

The instructor outlined three basic rules for beekeeping –

  1. Never go into the hive without a reason.
  2. Never go into a hive without seeing either the queen or eggs. Seeing eggs means that you had a queen at least 72 hours prior to opening the hive.
  3. There are a hundred ways to lose a queen.

The instructor also outlined some basic expectations for the beginning beekeeper. Based on what he said, I should have reasonable expectations about hive success and failure. I should expect to lose a hive at some point, but I should also expect to learn from it. I should not expect honey the first year, and I should not expect hands on help from an experienced beekeeper.

Some more highlights from the first class –

  1. From 1984 to 2004, 50% of the genetic alleles (options) in the honeybee have been lost.
  2. The state of North Carolina is considering passing a law preempting municipal banning of beekeeping within town limits. This law would help in promoting backyard hobby beekeeping.
  3. Every human being is allergic to bee stings, and there is no rhyme or reason to the severity of the sting at any given time.
  4. Bees cannot navigate very well when it is overcast.

If you want to follow along at home, our text book is Beekeeping for Dummies. Read chapters two and four.

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cape fear regional beekeepers association

by beesworkshops

Cape Fear Regional Beekeepers Association

Posted on February 15, 2008 by

A newly formed beekeepers association is starting up in New Hanover and adjacent counties. The first meeting is Tuesday February 19th, 7:00pm at the Arboretum (County Extension).

In addition, there will be an eight week beekeepers school starting on March 15th. Here is the info:

Title: Beekeeper’s School
Begins: March 15, 2008 (for 8 weeks)
When: Saturdays 10:00 am – Noon
Where: Ogden Fire Department, 7375 Market St., Wilmington NC
Cost: $30.00 for individuals and $45.00 for families sharing a textbook, due by March 1 to get book at first class.
Sponsor: Cape Fear Regional Beekeepers Association
Additional Information: The course is ideal for new beekeepers and hobbyist beekeepers looking to improve their beekeeping skills. The beeyard portion of the course will be held at local beeyards in New Hanover, Pender, and Brunswick counties.
Contact: Barry Harris @ (910) 352-7868

For information on other beekeeping classes in North Carolina, check out the North Carolina State Beekeepers Association.

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4 Responses to Cape Fear Regional Beekeepers Association

  1. tigerhorse says:


    February 20, 2008 at 12:20 am

    This is exciting…I’m missing out.

  2. Counsel says:


    June 4, 2009 at 1:35 pm

    I would like more information on current (June 2009) meeting dates/times/locations.

    Thanks!

  3. Trace says:


    June 5, 2009 at 12:19 pm

    I am not sure when the meetings are. I no longer live in Wilmington.

  4. Tom Osborne says:


    March 9, 2010 at 9:02 pm

    Hey trace hope all is well.

hives

beekeeping crash course

by beesfood sources

Beekeeping crash course

Posted on October 24, 2007 by

I am pretty much fascinated by pollinators, not just honeybees, but moths, wasps and the big bumblebees that get drunk on nectar, sitting immobilized on a swaying branch of flowering basil. For many years I have wanted to get involved with beekeeping simply because I want to watch the bees go about their routines.

My first brush with a beekeeper came last year when Kristin bought her car from a guy who kept bees in his backyard. He also happened to be the Star News reporter who took a picture of me in front of a biodiesel tanker. Half a year later at another photo shoot I asked about checking out his bees. Unfortunately I never got to connect much further than that initial question about the hives.

A few months ago some friends let me know that they knew folks who kept bees and also lived in my neighborhood. They each gave me the beekeepers’ contact information and left me to it.

I don’t usually hesitate when contacting strangers, but in this instance I was paralyzed for some reason. I was about to actually get involved with something that I had talked about for several years. Critical mass… I had a phone number and an email address, so, after a few weeks of deliberating, I sent off an email. Sporadic correspondence came and went, and I finally met up with the beekeepers at a friends wedding. I had plenty of questions for them, and it seemed like we talked about bees for quite a while. We left the wedding with promises of going to check out the hives in the next few weeks and to sit down and discuss equipment.

They called the next morning… That afternoon I was riding in their car out to the hives. They brought along an extra bee suit so I was able to get up close when they inspected the hives. Through the process of opening the hive I was able to see all the parts I had been reading about in various beekeeping books. I finally understood what I was reading, and it all started to make some sense.

hives

checking hive

The keepers were looking for signs of wax moths, a hive pest that can destroy a weakened hive in a very short time frame. The beekeepers were also winterizing the hives, adding food and removing supers that did not have much comb and honey buildup.

smoking hive

smoking hive

The process of opening the hive starts with smoking the entrance and the top of the hive. This induces the bees to gorge themselves on honey, making them too heavy to move quickly and less likely to get rapidly agitated.

Next they removed the super, which holds ten frames on which the bees build a comb and insert honey or brood.

removing super

The wire grate is the queen excluder which prevents the queen from entering the upper parts of the hive. This prevents her from laying eggs in that part, which gives the beekeeper access to the extra stored honey.

removing frame

checking frame

Another insect problem that the hives fight is the small hive beetle, a recently introduced pest that can also cause bees to abandon the hive. Small beetle traps are placed in the hive to keep the beetle in check. The trap is the black square in the above picture.

frame removed

After they put the hives back together, confident that the bees were healthy and ready for the winter, my head was full and a bit overwhelmed. I feel confident that I can take on beekeeping, and I look forward to learning more of the hands on details of working with these awesome creatures.

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6 Responses to Beekeeping crash course

  1. Jessica says:


    October 24, 2007 at 9:22 pm

    Awesome! I was just thinking about bees while eating some honey I got from Honeybell Farm. They’re lovely, useful creatures – unlike mosquitos.

  2. Trace says:


    October 24, 2007 at 9:25 pm

    Even if I never harvested honey, I would like to have a hive around.

    We have some Honeybell Farm honey in the cupboard, the dark stuff. Have you tried the duck eggs he sells?

  3. Sean says:


    October 24, 2007 at 9:56 pm

    I’ve had a few family members that have done some beekeeping. It’s a heck of a hobby that pays off nicely.

  4. Jessica says:


    October 25, 2007 at 7:54 pm

    We’ve got the dark honey too – on your recommendation, I think. I can’t get enough of it. I mix a little bit of it with the Carolina Peanuts peanut butter and spread it on toast for breakfast. Yum. I haven’t tried the duck eggs yet…I guess there’s no reason not to!

  5. Trace says:


    October 25, 2007 at 8:21 pm

    I’ll have to check out that peanut butter…

    Sean – how many hives did your family keep?

  6. Sean says:


    October 25, 2007 at 9:12 pm

    Trace- not sure exactly, but your photos look about right. I had a step-grandpa raised bees and made his own beer(what a guy). I also have a distant relative in Alaska that raises them too, although he said this last year was pretty rough for it. I’m no expert and only enjoy the benefits of honey and not the expertise of raising.

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