Down two more hives (that I know of), hope the swarm capture season works out well again this year for some replenishment. We're 4-8 weeks from the start of swarm season, depending on seasonal warmth and bloom. #beekeeping
I had to mow the lawn and trim the hedges around the beehives, so I had to put my bee suit on in case the bees got stroppy about the tools. It's 38°C in the shade and 70+% humidity. And I poked myself in the eye with my sunnies while putting them on under my hood.
Trimming hedges with tears and sweat pouring out of me was not fun. The bees were very chill about things.
Luckily we have a pool, so I just flopped into that afterwards to recharge.
Hot honey from the other day. Honey heated and mixed with a bazillion hot peppers, then strained. There is typically a lot of hot peppers coated with honey left over... (currently out to the compost pile, but I wonder if folks would like very sticky, hot peppers in honey) #honey#beekeeping#food
NEW POST
Ancient and veteran trees include many big enough to house a colony of free-living honey bees. Here is some science and speculation on the trees, the bees and what to look for.
"There are hives all over the park where, right now, the bees would be crowding together to keep the temperature up, would be taking turns to be circled and warmed by all the other bees, would be tending to the year's future bees in their cells..."
Under the camo net there are two bee hives wrapped in plastic to protect them from the weather over the winter and keep unwanted insects out.
I don't own any land. I built one Japanese stacked pile hive box and I ordered a second Langstroth hive and assembled it.
Last spring I failed to attract a swarm. I put them out too late. This spring I will be ready when the bees swarm.
I took advantage of a clearing that resulted from trees knocked down in a storm. This is public land.
Fortunately Japanese people don't usually mess with other people's stuff. I only covered it with the net so it wouldn't be an eyesore to people walking in the forest.
I will post more pictures as the situation changes with the season.
Edit: I also plan on covering this clearing with flowers for both beatification and for the bees. I ordered foxglove, bundleflower, and passionflower. The bundleflower is mainly for the seeds. They are more nutritious than soybeans. Birds and deer love them.
I birded a new sector of the Marysville Calif annual bird count this year, and discovered a bonus that I'll go back to: Tony's Farm Stand. Here's a jar of their Star Thistle Honey, possibly the only upside of that invasive plant. It is scrumptious. https://www.tonysfruitstand.com/
Cancelled all beekeeping tasks for the weekend. (using a smoker not safe, and bees won't be flying, and they hate it if you open their hive on a windy day). #beekeeping#wind
Hmm, another beehive failure. Saskatraz queen. Will see how the rest have fared.... not good. Hoping this is not an unknown plague or environmental issue. #beekeeping
Hmm, down at least 8 hives in the last 2 months or so. 7 commercial Italian, 1 Saskatraz queens. Several hives remain, all of those are either captured queens or one is a second generation hybrid of Italian + local bees. Hoping this is a matter of suitability of queens, not some indication of local disease or the environment. Still have more hives to check this month. #beekeeping
Multiple bee colony failures the last 2 months. This one appears to have starved. We were feeding these but they apparently too small to survive the cold. Down 7 hives in this area. #beekeeping
As a beekeeper and someone who has spend a very long time in the technology and startup industry, I have great doubts on the economic feasibility of AI-powered beekeeping. (there's a startup with $53M in funding to use AI to "optimize pollination"). The entire US beekeeping industry had revenues of around $778M in 2022. #beekeeping#thoughts#AI
Well, this alaska food and farm festival is officially information overload. There were lightning sessions (#compost! Native #greens! Traditional foods!) breakouts (#beekeeping! #Mariculture! Food security! Flower diseases!) meet and greets and awards. This three ring circus wrapped day one and I am truly overwhelmed. #akfood
Today is a warm #autumn day with little to no wind. Took the opportunity to feed the #bees some nectar. 🐝🐝🐝 They look like they are doing well. #beekeeping
Beekeeping notes for Nov 5: lost another hive, OHB Italian queen. Hive was raided by another hive and it appears defenses were overwhelmed; all honey and pollen stolen and the hive and queen now dead. In the struggle observed the other day, it appears the raiding bees overwhelmed defenses and smothered the queen. Will try again in Spring with likely a Saskatraz queen instead. #beekeeping
Local caught swarms are much more robust, but friendliness of the hives is touch-and-go. We've had a handful of nasty hives that have required queen replacement; fine for remote fields, but no good for suburban backyards. #beekeeping
(Another) Italian queen issue today, a struggling hive we have nearby (which was getting fed) appears to be fighting off raiders. Unclear if they are winning. Italian queen bees vs. the feral bees here are unable to compete, IMHO. #beekeeping