My last preparations before winter: #8 hardware cloth lined with dryer-sheets and covered with cedar chips. The whole feeder cost roughly $6 to build and fill. However, I believe it will prove brilliant on all fronts. The dryer sheets should catch the beetles – the cedar should deter moths – and both should insulate the…
Tag: God
My Cup Runs Over
My bees are flourishing like never before. 20 of the 22 hives at Dr. D’s place are packed with bees and honey. Two needed some help but still had bees in them. I am also happy to say, that I didn’t see a single beetle yesterday – not that I looked too hard for them….
Wedding at Dr. D’s
My energy is split between what I have to do and what I want to do. However, it is absolutely impossible to devote time to everything. Family, work, and sleep are non-negotiable. So I am left to juggle downtime, beekeeping, writing, and inventing. While it sounds like a rationalization of my shortcomings, the truth is…
2018 The Future Looks Bright
“Never pet a burning dog,” – movie quote from, A Good Year. I do my best to keep this blog purely focused on my beekeeping but something strange happened last week that I don’t want to forget – so indulge me and then I’ll tell about my extraordinary beekeeping year thus far. Or just skip…
2018 First Inspection of Spring
“In winter, I plot and plan. In spring, I move.” – Henry Rollins Is there anything more daunting than the first hive inspections of spring? This was the harshest winter since I started keeping bees. Yet, I am happy to report that I only lost one hive. It was the VSH Hive that was full…
Queen Cages: (4) living (3) Dead (1) Stillborn
Just a note: The Queen Cells I caged Monday have hatched. As stated in the title, (3) are dead – the cause of death is unknown but I suspect starvation. This has been a hard year filled with ups and downs. However, I take these setbacks, not as failures but as lessons. This lesson is…
Before you win big. you have to lose big…
“If you want to win big, first you have to lose big. So what are we doing now? We’re losing big!” Some Kind Of Wonderful, 1987. It was odd line that has always stayed burrowed in the back of my mind. Yesterday it seemed to fit more than usual. My queen grafts didn’t take, so Noah and I…
No Queens – What to do?
I finished up teaching classes on Saturday and so Sunday I finally had time to check my backyard bees — The two Mini Nucs and Hive-D.3 — sadly not one of the three had a queen. That being said, I suspected the queen was gone from Hive-D.3 as soon as I opened it because when I gave my…
Attack of the Small Hive Beetles
Brood Comb destroyed by Small Hive Beetles Wikipedia: “The small hive beetle (Aethina tumida) is a beekeeping pest.”Now there is an understatement. I’ve always had issues with hive beetles. For the most part I have used dryer sheets with a fair bit of success (though I am trying Don the fat bee man’s traps with less success). However, when I…
A Swarm Is Like Manna From Heaven
I caught my first swarm last night and it was like God just handed it to me. But first… I’ve decided not to post so much about my personal life on here. I imagine if you are reading this, it’s because you are interested in bees and not in me. That being said, I have to tell this…
Another one bites the dust
I’ll keep today’s post fairly short. For starters, this past Friday I visited the apiary. I was shocked to find that the very hive I found the queen in last week was completely empty 7 days later… Damn the luck. I am now down to 7 hives. Also, since the bees have not built any…
God, Family, and Bees
My oldest and dearest friend, Chip Burnside (who is also my cousin) came for a visit. So of course I took him to my apiary. He had a great time and took lots of pictures. However, that is not what this blog is about today. Today I want to talk about God and prayer. I…
Honey Homestead 