Splitting the Lavender Hive, and Rechecking Rosemary
Last Friday we spent the afternoon working in the apiary. At the end of February we had split the Salvia colony into our (then empty) Rosemary hive. As a month had since passed, we expected we should see evidence of a new Queen by now, so we needed to see how this...
Hive Management: Splitting the Salvia Hive
It is difficult to believe that we’re already embarking on our second year of beekeeping! Despite struggling with Varroa mites last fall, and losing two weaker colonies in our apiary over fall and winter, one to robbers, and the other to a Queen that abdicated,...
Rosemary Hive: A Queen Abdicates Her Throne
Sometimes, beekeeping doesn’t go according to the beekeeper’s plan. Bees are dynamic creatures, with free will, and sometimes, despite all the preparations, reading, attending guild meetings, and talking to beekeepers who are vastly more experienced than...
Hive Management: Feeding The Bees in Fall
The ability of bees to obtain and store food is a function of weather, resource availability, and colony size. The question is, if feral colonies can store enough food without a beekeeper ever feeding them, why do beekeepers feed bees? Well, part of the answer is...
The Collapse of the Chamomile Hive
It’s a little early for a Hallowe’en tale, but yesterday we made a rather grisly discovery in the apiary. After only 5 months, the Chamomile colony, despite our efforts to help, is completely dead. If we weren’t paying attention to our hives, we...
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