Musings about bees
Last month, I got a call about a swarm from a bee tree (a tree with a colony of wild bees). The bee tree had already thrown a primary swarm the week before and this was a secondary. Secondary swarms may have mated or virgin queens in them (or both). Read more…
As I write this, the world is gripped by the specter of the novel coronavirus – COVID-19. Right now, over 215,000 people worldwide have been infected and almost 8,000 have died from it. In the U.S., the number of cases and deaths are beginning to ramp up. People are being Read more…
Sometimes bees don’t live in a man-made hive or a tree. Sometimes they take up residence in a structure like a house, church or apartment. Sometimes that’s not a bad thing and the humans and the bees can live together in harmony. But sometimes, the bees pick a location that Read more…
When I’m not beekeeping, I’m a scientist who works as a contract employee for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)**. At the current time, I can’t go to work because the president has decided he wants a wall between Mexico and the U.S. to stop illegal immigration and drug Read more…
I think winter has arrived today. While there have been snows earlier this fall, they melted quickly. I think this will stay around for a while – maybe until April. Beekeepers do lots of work to prepare their bees for winter – some starting in mid-summer. Some beekeepers start blasting Read more…
Hard to believe that another beekeeping season is almost over. This has been a rebuilding year for me. After losing 3 out of 6 colonies, I was hoping to catch some swarms in addition to making splits with the goal of 10 colonies to manage. I figure that’s the most Read more…
It’s been a busy spring for me and finding the time to do a blog post just hasn’t happened, but here’s an update on my beekeeping adventures this year. A bit long winded, but I hope you enjoy it. I went into the winter with 6 1/2 hives (1/2 Read more…