Beekeeping Start-Up, Jump Into the World of Keeping Bees

Beekeeping has moved from the pastime of fusty middle-aged men to young urban couples and singles. It is trendy now to become a beekeeper! Who could have predicted that? When I worked at the bee booth at the Fairgrounds recently, I was amazed at the young (under 25!) people, both male and female who were into beekeeping!  I …

Bee Packages are Here!

Catching Up My two Italian bee packages arrived in MD this weekend and I am very excited. First promised in April, a cold and wet spring in Georgia held up the delivery for an unprecedented two long months. By this time of year, the packages should have been installed, the bees settled in and raising brood, plus storing honey for …

The Dreaded ‘Hive Beetle’ Attacks

I opened my hive the other day to check on things -removing my last super, and to button everything up for the winter. When I took off the inner cover, I noticed some small black beetles scurrying around on the top bars of the hive and my heart sank.  I knew right away that these were …

Robbing the Bees- A Honey of a Day

It happens every August - honey extraction! After babying the bees, feeding, monitoring, re-queening, splitting, and just plain worrying about them, now is the moment of truth.  How much honey did they deposit in the combs for me to rob from them? I won't leave you in suspense - I extracted 55 pounds from my one …

The Handbook for Beekeepers – The Beekeeper’s Bible

A Honey of a Good Book I don't know how I missed the publication of this book in April of 2011 but picked it up at a local plant nursery to look at and was enthralled. As a practicing beekeepr, I get a lot of information off the web and have several beekeeping books on my shelf …

The Great Sunflower Project – The Backyard Bee Count

The Great Bee Count Within the past couple of years, you might have heard that bees are in trouble, growing scarcer, and suffering from a mysterious ailment called Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD. A variety of culprits have been fingered in causing this syndrome, including pesticide use, parasites, and diseases. To study bees, scientists decided …

Swarming of the Bees – It is That Time of Year Again!

Honey Flow With the coming of spring a couple of weeks early this spring, I am getting a little nervous about my bees. The honey flow which is the frantic bee activity of bees collecting nectar from spring flowers will be here very soon. I have a strong hive that made it through the winter and I am on …

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