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: pray
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…
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…
My First Successful Grafts
“The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream. The oak sleeps in the acorn, the bird waits in the egg, and in the highest vision of the soul a waking angel stirs. Dreams are the seedlings of realities.” James Allen At least two of my grafts have been accepted. This is…
The Beetles Kill Another Hive
The bottom board of Hive-D “I don’t believe in Beatles, I just believe in me,” John Lennon… but then John never kept bees! I was sure that all was well in my home apiary. I had strong (though queenless) hives and minimal comb. So you can imagine my surprise yesterday afternoon, when I went to check…
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…
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…
First Inspection 2017 – Trying not to screw the pooch!
Hives (A) & (B) On Friday, March 24th I took my nephew Zack with me for the first hive work of the year. I went to my (4) hives at the doctor’s place and I couldn’t have been more pleased. The hives are strong and healthy. Since I didn’t gather much honey last year, the…
Summer of 2015 Final Tally: 7-Hives
Dale (father-n-law) moving supers Hello beekeeping fans, Well, it is now the end of summer and time to tally my efforts for the 2015 year. No suspense, the answer is 7 hives. So here is a summery of this years splits. I started with 4 hives but one of those died shortly after the spring…
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 