My interns have all left for the season. We accomplished a lot of work not only in the beeyards and on bee equipment but around the house as well.
Bee things: We grafted a round of queens every week and went through all the mating nucs every week. We inspected all the hives about every other week including two outyards. We built a cell starter, "swarm ketching frames", feeder shims, cover/bottoms, repaired a lot of boxes, cut down end bars, cut bevels on top bars, made a lot of syrup and fed a lot of bees. We kept "hatching" queens in the incubator and perfecting that process so it was better, though not as good as we hoped.
House things: We took down several trees that were threatening the house and cut them up. We buried some electrical cable to the barn and the horse fence . We repaired the deck. We dug up several dumpster loads of thistles. Repaired the mower. Fixed the kitchen cabinet. Ran another outlet to power the horse water heater. There are probably a hundred other things I've forgotten. It was a busy and productive year. Thank you to all the interns. Especially Jesse who stayed to the end. I hope you all learned as much as you hoped. You certainly accomplished more than I dared to hope. Thanks.
I saw this frenzy going on and turned the cover over to block the entrance. They were doing this same thing before I blocked it. They would pile up until they would fall in clumps. I slowed it down to try to see it better.
I have fallen behind on posting. I work 40 hours a week and then try to keep up with bees, so I've fallen behind on my posts most everywhere including here. I'm feeling my age. For the first time I find myself thinking that 8 frame medium boxes full of honey are too heavy. And the 8 and 9 frame "queen castle" mating nucs are also getting too heavy. You would think this constant increase in the pull of gravity would have people concerned...
Last year I had an apprentice, which helped a lot on getting bee work done. We raised a lot of batches of queens, but did not have very good returns. Some of that is probably weather, some is probably predators (dragonflies etc.). Some of it, I think is that the dividers on my mating nucs are deteriorating and queens are getting killed by the neighbors. The corners at the top are getting chewed out. I hope to get enough help, between apprentices and Bee Camp, to build some separate 3 medium frame mating nucs. We will see. It's that or ...
https://bushfarms.com/beescamp.htm
Bee Camp dates: 22-26 May 2025 (arriving 21 May leaving 27 May)
(Work week will be 17-21 May 2025 arriving May 16))
Location: Nehawka, Nebraska 68413(45 miles south of Omaha Eppley Airport)
Cost: $1,000 ($100 non-refundable deposit. $900 on arrival) or if you do work week, just the $100 deposit.
Accommodations: meals and camping in a tipi provided. I highly recommend staying in the camp. If you don't you will miss a lot of the camaraderie, but Hotel or Glamping (glamour camping) are available in the area at the cost of the camper and the camper is responsible for arrangements.
Weather permitting we will be doing bee things for at least 4 hours a day, usually more like 12 and other activities the rest of the day.
I guess this is a clear sign I don't post here enough. You can still see my last post on last year's camp. Last year was another great year. A lot of fun, a lot of camaraderie and a lot of new friends. Here's my...
New member looking to meet local natural beekeepers: anyone in/near Central Massachusetts?
I just got started with a langstroth hive this summer, planning to build a top bar hive and swarm traps for the spring. I am a decent carpenter; would be fun to collaborate and build some hives together with others in the area.
