tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59042705995778688562024-02-19T06:48:55.316-07:00Robertson BeesRobertson Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564514431401201303noreply@blogger.comBlogger106125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904270599577868856.post-52285905971045242232023-05-09T22:34:00.004-06:002023-05-09T22:47:46.429-06:00Continue to follow us at Chillin' Outdoors on youtube. See you there!<p> Sorry, we are not keeping up with this blog anymore. But you can continue to follow along with our beekeeping and other adventures as we are Chillin' Outdoors. Go ahead and subscribe to the channel so you don't miss out on anything! And feel free to share with your friends and families as well. Thanks, we do appreciate it!</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@chillinoutdoors7464">https://www.youtube.com/@chillinoutdoors7464</a><br /></p>Robertson Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564514431401201303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904270599577868856.post-10351742354463979532014-04-11T12:30:00.000-06:002014-04-12T13:24:15.246-06:00Pussy Willow Bloom 2014<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The pussy willow is in full bloom today, and the bees are all over it! This is always an exciting day for me. In my mind at least, this the beginning of bee season. This is the first bloom that is visible and allows the bees to bring in large amounts of pollen. It could very well be that the bees are able to get some nectar from the pussy willow as well, but I do not know for sure either way.<br />
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The main nectar flow that really allows the bees to pack away a lot of honey begins with the alfalfa bloom sometime in June. I have kept track over the years and have learned that the alfalfa bloom begins about 70 days after the pussy willow bloom. Since the pussy willow bloom is happening today, April 11th, I can plan on honey production moving into high gear on about June 20th. There will be smaller nectar flows between now and then- dandelions, fruit trees, etc. Let bee season begin!<br />
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Below are a series of pictures of the bees on the pussy willow today.<br />
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Finally, I took this little video of the bees in the pussy willow. Hopefully you will be able to see all the activity. At the end I held the camera up in the middle to try to pick up the hum of the bees, so turn your speakers up.</div>
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Robertson Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564514431401201303noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904270599577868856.post-57919171448542441962014-02-17T18:33:00.000-07:002014-02-17T18:33:13.936-07:00Winter Activities For Beekepers- Feeding The Bees<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We finally had a nice day with a high in the upper 30's that coincided with one of my days off. It was a good day to take the bee candy I made a few weeks ago out to the hives<br />
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I have always fed the bees extra sugar cakes to make sure they can get through late winter and early spring without starving to death, but every year there is still honey left in the hives by the time the dandelions bloom. The bees do consume the sugar cakes at the same time they eat the remaining honey, so the question is- Would the bees survive just fine without the sugar cakes? The answer is- I don't know. But I would rather be safe than sorry.<br />
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Anyway, when I got out to the hives a pulled the tops off, this is what I found:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq5MEMDnfPdhSJeRLLK_voRP5mv4SxWx5GqrdawfcUOwHluKCJDAIthjHr4-9mDqMRSZYOZbGt-MhGEY58dJeDFOSWgFy0Sv0PCG03n44TNWEhnz7hfjTxsU3HV9lqGxotLCrS4-TH39c/s1600/Gerogia+Cluster+2014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq5MEMDnfPdhSJeRLLK_voRP5mv4SxWx5GqrdawfcUOwHluKCJDAIthjHr4-9mDqMRSZYOZbGt-MhGEY58dJeDFOSWgFy0Sv0PCG03n44TNWEhnz7hfjTxsU3HV9lqGxotLCrS4-TH39c/s1600/Gerogia+Cluster+2014.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Georgia's cluster</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRnrPFZ1Id0XQS7xIz6t2X-r7FbHfmIryhnPclNFN3BiNWUiYNLbmwNfEEKZ6rAOpFLhJLUdm8rO3lrVrX54oKqV2jCvzRQSuG0uV3ZnaDmPj36VggRpUWnY_MB19hiay0BAlp9WZFmSI/s1600/Ida+Cluster+Feb+2014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRnrPFZ1Id0XQS7xIz6t2X-r7FbHfmIryhnPclNFN3BiNWUiYNLbmwNfEEKZ6rAOpFLhJLUdm8rO3lrVrX54oKqV2jCvzRQSuG0uV3ZnaDmPj36VggRpUWnY_MB19hiay0BAlp9WZFmSI/s1600/Ida+Cluster+Feb+2014.jpg" height="208" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ida's cluster</td></tr>
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You can see the clusters in each of the two hives- it looks like both are coming through the winter in pretty good shape. I think Georgia might have a larger population than Ida but it is hard to tell as we can't really see how far down the cluster extends.<br />
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I put an empty super on top of each of the hives and laid the sugar cakes inside. Here is a picture of what that looked like before I put the top cover on.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhafsLFB9CcbOQXJPkaDS0iKh2phZGpjk-1Pyrbv_naUA8T9sPpBIyPMfWlodG-ysTw4n4HXrEdEqBiVhhNyIHleya4KYZntarqZSqM_VgFOJwYOiwMsP1QxeEyVXWjmho7_5lk6qURl0w/s1600/Ida+with+bee+candy+2014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhafsLFB9CcbOQXJPkaDS0iKh2phZGpjk-1Pyrbv_naUA8T9sPpBIyPMfWlodG-ysTw4n4HXrEdEqBiVhhNyIHleya4KYZntarqZSqM_VgFOJwYOiwMsP1QxeEyVXWjmho7_5lk6qURl0w/s1600/Ida+with+bee+candy+2014.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ida with sugar cakes inside an empty super</td></tr>
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I glanced down between the frames and it looks like all the frames in the upper deep hive body of each hive still have honey- that is a good sign that they will remain healthy through the spring. But I didn't pull any of the frames out since I didn't want to disturb the clusters too much while it is still cold outside, so I don't really know how far down the honey stores actually go.<br />
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I plan on splitting one of the hives to repopulate a third hive that is currently vacant later this spring- probably toward the end of April. I don't know which hive will get split- we will just have to wait and see which population is booming the most</div>
Robertson Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564514431401201303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904270599577868856.post-32457503177740592392014-02-09T17:20:00.002-07:002014-02-09T17:20:55.526-07:00Snowy Hives<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
February is a miserable month. The holidays are over, the days are getting a little longer, we are looking forward to spring, and what do we get? Snow and cold. We woke up to a fresh blanket of snow this morning. Here is what the hives looked like.<br />
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I went out and cleared the snow away from the front entrances. They won't be using the entrances today, but I wanted to make sure they were able to get the air circulation they need. I did not see any indication that the bees were alive and doing well, but at just six degrees Fahrenheit I'm sure the clusters were pretty tight and they weren't moving anywhere.<br />
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We just finished a week of sub zero temps so I still haven't had a chance to open up the hives and put in the sugar cakes I made a couple of weeks ago. I hope to get them in the hives later this week when it is supposed to get into the upper thirties. Maybe I will see some signs of life, too!</div>
Robertson Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564514431401201303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904270599577868856.post-64625333052680685492014-02-02T18:03:00.000-07:002014-02-02T18:03:51.684-07:00It's Been A While<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It's been a while since I last posted anything in this blog- almost a year. Well, lets catch up a little.<br />
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In the spring of 2012 I got a third hive and filled it with a package of Russian hybrid bees. They turned out to be not what I had hoped for. The were very aggressive whenever I worked with them and never even built up enough to add a honey super. That fall I did not feed them and reduced the hive down to just a handful of frames with any honey on them. I assumed they would die out during the winter months. I was going to split one of my other two hives to repopulate the hive the Russians were to have left vacant. To my surprise, they were still going strong the next spring (last year, 2013) and the queen was laying like gangbusters. I decided to get rid of the Russian queen and replace her with an Italian queen I had ordered from a supplier. It looked like all was going well with the new queen when she suddenly disappeared- maybe the Russians ended up rejecting her. In any case the hive ended up dying out before the end of the summer and, of course, I harvested zero honey from that hive. The other two hives, on the other hand, performed well all through last summer and I harvested 25 gallons of honey between the two of them!<br />
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So as of right now my little apiary consists of two hives with Italian bees and one hive sitting empty. This spring I plan on splitting whichever of the two is building up the fastest and repopulating the empty hive. I will queen her with an Italian queen I will order from a supplier. If I can get all three hives healthy and producing all summer long, the honey ought to come pouring in!<br />
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So here we are in February 2014. It doesn't seem as though our winter has been particularly cold- we did have one stretch of bitter cold back in December but that has been it so far. We here in Wyoming just missed the polar vortex that froze so much of the nation in January. But we have not had any of the winter thaws that we usually get form time to time. It seem like sometime in January I can usually count on some days when the temperature gets up above 40 degrees and I can get some supplemental feed out in the bee hives. That has not happened this year. In fact, we will be down in the negative teens to negative 20 this week. I did take some time to make some bee candy this weekend. I can't put it out in the hives yet, but when the temps allow it I will be ready.<br />
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You can find lots of recipes for bee candy on the internet, but here is how I do it:<br />
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1. In a large sauce pan or heavy bottomed stock pot add 1 part water to 5 parts sugar and 1/4 teaspoon vinegar for every pound of sugar you use.<br />
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2. With a candy thermometer attached to the side of the pan and stirring occasionally, bring the solution to a boil and continue cooking until the syrup reaches 235 degrees (or the soft ball stage- at least that is what it says on our thermometer.) Continue boiling at this temperature without stirring for three minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and wait for it to cool down.<br />
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3. While the syrup is cooling, line some kind of mold with waxed paper that has been sprayed lightly with cooking spray- this will allow the finished candy to release more easily from the waxed paper. I used a couple of Pyrex baking dishes.<br />
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4. When the syrup cools to about 175 degrees you can pour the syrup into the waxed paper lined dishes. Some recipes say to beat the syrup with electric beaters first to start some sugar crystallization. I don't know how necessary that really is.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQXz7YDQzZyQwOSlp7R0cpyUn9fg_Mgl_xlG1Q6KyX4mkZl7n1maY82GPM1aGjc2P6qf_e3Kqi-ruKvQ3HoV8nQ_8QXgDQZR_pdoFO36eEZ010vlh_tyb55EN63bHrGFTbBHCC4qqMcsc/s1600/1661425_10201539658959327_1288097539_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQXz7YDQzZyQwOSlp7R0cpyUn9fg_Mgl_xlG1Q6KyX4mkZl7n1maY82GPM1aGjc2P6qf_e3Kqi-ruKvQ3HoV8nQ_8QXgDQZR_pdoFO36eEZ010vlh_tyb55EN63bHrGFTbBHCC4qqMcsc/s1600/1661425_10201539658959327_1288097539_n.jpg" height="196" width="320" /></a></div>
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5. Let the candy cool overnight, remove it from the dishes, and peel the waxed paper off.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8g1yv9Ferd4LqtHQUqiGIl5ettIqkZoxztCwaSP64pd_XKlhpkP18Gu8nUi2ywIkJVbc_TFw1fg2RXOV8P3FxSf-LuYuCXzowXf-YmNnxEmJKgQWVqKI1F3cw0u25E8eLc6WHI06YlRA/s1600/1554609_10201545090375109_1991422156_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8g1yv9Ferd4LqtHQUqiGIl5ettIqkZoxztCwaSP64pd_XKlhpkP18Gu8nUi2ywIkJVbc_TFw1fg2RXOV8P3FxSf-LuYuCXzowXf-YmNnxEmJKgQWVqKI1F3cw0u25E8eLc6WHI06YlRA/s1600/1554609_10201545090375109_1991422156_n.jpg" height="206" width="320" /></a></div>
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The resulting sugar cakes should not be too hard and can be broken into smaller pieces easily.</div>
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As soon as the weather permits I will add an empty super on top of the deep hive bodies of each hive and place the bee candy inside. This should keep the bees from starving until the pussy willows bloom around the end of March or beginning of April. The dandelions should follow soon after that.</div>
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Robertson Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564514431401201303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904270599577868856.post-92224725949445827532013-04-16T22:46:00.000-06:002013-04-16T22:51:55.112-06:00Favorite Photos<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It has been five years since I started keeping bees in my backyard and over that time I have taken A LOT of pictures of the bees. I am no photographer, and the vast majority of those pictures have been missed shots, out of focus, or just plain uninteresting. Every once in a while, though, I get one that works out really well. I have shared many of those photos here on the blog.<br />
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I have decided to make a collection of some of my favorite photos and share them all together here. I might have been lucky enough to get a cool looking shot and some of them might have some other meaning. In any case, here thy are.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4-pV2gmTVLWlPrXpZaYtfl8ddGRuR1tI8kG7QS5sK27A7YCLyH9_kdk94b0F43jqCfebyoPZNDkCYkZ0vIuZLnp4QES8BsjHrlRagei8yq-b1BWr0DBEM0qRxGBuP0bkzoRZmFa1hdEM/s1600/Apple.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4-pV2gmTVLWlPrXpZaYtfl8ddGRuR1tI8kG7QS5sK27A7YCLyH9_kdk94b0F43jqCfebyoPZNDkCYkZ0vIuZLnp4QES8BsjHrlRagei8yq-b1BWr0DBEM0qRxGBuP0bkzoRZmFa1hdEM/s1600/Apple.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bee on an apple blossom in our backyard</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh30a47wVMch4JsBjmlONhg_lET6fr9-CMdjhT_mdeL2NydbLl1xMhgQzXc1vxxafUxHh-wGCDmAUBDvMq0CBODXyL_6dmT_GTBToGe86t1QwqH0hkBnSyXzbGLvxTZPbUOUDJLMhxK2Ms/s1600/Broccoli.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh30a47wVMch4JsBjmlONhg_lET6fr9-CMdjhT_mdeL2NydbLl1xMhgQzXc1vxxafUxHh-wGCDmAUBDvMq0CBODXyL_6dmT_GTBToGe86t1QwqH0hkBnSyXzbGLvxTZPbUOUDJLMhxK2Ms/s1600/Broccoli.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bee on the broccoli blossom in our garden</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLta_h36SlVkZ5gz3yzSAkCQwSk8EUiEN0DsCqfyJ8sIobv3-2aCFzNBD81443mYWQT12-lcu1g-6xWir3lP1FTdcw57d7-LV_Q57zbHzV9NHBTP1OriPy-rdRlyoLQvsynClIH-taf8Y/s1600/Cantaloupe+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLta_h36SlVkZ5gz3yzSAkCQwSk8EUiEN0DsCqfyJ8sIobv3-2aCFzNBD81443mYWQT12-lcu1g-6xWir3lP1FTdcw57d7-LV_Q57zbHzV9NHBTP1OriPy-rdRlyoLQvsynClIH-taf8Y/s1600/Cantaloupe+1.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bee on a cantaloupe blossom in our garden</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWkpCWZkI1eXGwvZeJQpPS867dghH6zDGuyfpVkJlWDRjwH5d1HnuDGPga4AklMI61d3TbIAm_jkpnLRmCL02HZnl6bqzixFO6nZB4SJxbJbOvTevR98KDAYT-dlG-mhvrB82p2PXRX-o/s1600/Clover+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWkpCWZkI1eXGwvZeJQpPS867dghH6zDGuyfpVkJlWDRjwH5d1HnuDGPga4AklMI61d3TbIAm_jkpnLRmCL02HZnl6bqzixFO6nZB4SJxbJbOvTevR98KDAYT-dlG-mhvrB82p2PXRX-o/s1600/Clover+1.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bee on white Dutch clover blossom in our yard</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNRZCb_IdXUsfJ2SMQxxfQi7i0bIpLb1tDE_WA0Vy20XzNm8fwa3NM24ACvG_gPFChjUDMFRqyksW3-ksV6DVL2jgU0kVOmq284yQynS_Kebo71iaKJNvzHSgEhboo6d7SRGsOHcJZBXw/s1600/Coming+in+for+a+landing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNRZCb_IdXUsfJ2SMQxxfQi7i0bIpLb1tDE_WA0Vy20XzNm8fwa3NM24ACvG_gPFChjUDMFRqyksW3-ksV6DVL2jgU0kVOmq284yQynS_Kebo71iaKJNvzHSgEhboo6d7SRGsOHcJZBXw/s1600/Coming+in+for+a+landing.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coming in for a landing on a pear blossom in the backyard</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTb0k3smRgYFpPIEn2PTiFBH870TLJF5tjfdgUK7S6fcIGBQBt79i5qv6iEzvrgMBEM2H4jf1NmTohhXX3xMuj_rvRtL-WIdbi1z1yzapbQcYhyphenhyphen2lUQSBwKP8cMYGAbY70hvNUkc0biz8/s1600/First+honey+jars.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTb0k3smRgYFpPIEn2PTiFBH870TLJF5tjfdgUK7S6fcIGBQBt79i5qv6iEzvrgMBEM2H4jf1NmTohhXX3xMuj_rvRtL-WIdbi1z1yzapbQcYhyphenhyphen2lUQSBwKP8cMYGAbY70hvNUkc0biz8/s1600/First+honey+jars.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Three jars of honey after our first honey harvest</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiidGt97hI56S0s9Cs196ledDNCcpT0vx-w_W-mVqnbBY_3xir0hsqphCMudfVEePzAXIVlYp6KyLfCe3Fre7ro51QS_v0JFiVtJhps1OdCROEhU5FQHt4DcYNTlTOSDmECJ7QmA_J5sZM/s1600/First+honey+filter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiidGt97hI56S0s9Cs196ledDNCcpT0vx-w_W-mVqnbBY_3xir0hsqphCMudfVEePzAXIVlYp6KyLfCe3Fre7ro51QS_v0JFiVtJhps1OdCROEhU5FQHt4DcYNTlTOSDmECJ7QmA_J5sZM/s1600/First+honey+filter.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The first bit of honey out of the extractor during our first honey harvest</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg74cBNU9Txq8SVz6DCqm0az7L_K8G0yj_O7awFpLLtwKj9vdjxdgHAAM6F05BuEmHJwnohrBmG76c_ttYIMPG6UL3Ng-DrY-4mee6HyCLr3U1zaVrhHxEXpcnmm0xTcxB5j2nnSooshec/s1600/Drinking+bee+1+5-8-10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg74cBNU9Txq8SVz6DCqm0az7L_K8G0yj_O7awFpLLtwKj9vdjxdgHAAM6F05BuEmHJwnohrBmG76c_ttYIMPG6UL3Ng-DrY-4mee6HyCLr3U1zaVrhHxEXpcnmm0xTcxB5j2nnSooshec/s1600/Drinking+bee+1+5-8-10.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Drinking Bee</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkmJL3j2mfLXXOppjPIB31nAbx4yt1rHJ_yKhyGarPCX0Gh7q8XY8JwAnoJ4DxKrTJGtU3EHA4VwSgQof18Vz4vAo8K_ubCfqO2q06K-9iBdm2yKbT2TeJbmdpBoi1zng-rfRAIZoUG3k/s1600/Fanning.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkmJL3j2mfLXXOppjPIB31nAbx4yt1rHJ_yKhyGarPCX0Gh7q8XY8JwAnoJ4DxKrTJGtU3EHA4VwSgQof18Vz4vAo8K_ubCfqO2q06K-9iBdm2yKbT2TeJbmdpBoi1zng-rfRAIZoUG3k/s1600/Fanning.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A single bee fanning the top entrance</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie80x4Fdyu1XRbNPAsSO7PRACQtQ4qfiJ3DuJYe7gcW_3A56jnxbZP7Id9bLlgQnbeCFS7oKU8DDEDAYXk84cA8e1iq8Xewyc8joNNnozuflnUpAu12plS9xtGV4nwbonzDEWN6Z7-Das/s1600/Frame+tops.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie80x4Fdyu1XRbNPAsSO7PRACQtQ4qfiJ3DuJYe7gcW_3A56jnxbZP7Id9bLlgQnbeCFS7oKU8DDEDAYXk84cA8e1iq8Xewyc8joNNnozuflnUpAu12plS9xtGV4nwbonzDEWN6Z7-Das/s1600/Frame+tops.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The tops of the frames in a honey super at harvest time</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfwJJt8ZhnThS3gNKx3dxJdpu_X1mYFl8THVfDnbRPVtb1bd8S893UMcEKho1b3RtbHx_MUdGQ8gZ6hMTgS8aE1QO_jz-RQcJRTL7nNxDlOfqvYqWoDAZQ_ZWY_M6F8UH4wPJJCJcsIFk/s1600/Half+and+half.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfwJJt8ZhnThS3gNKx3dxJdpu_X1mYFl8THVfDnbRPVtb1bd8S893UMcEKho1b3RtbHx_MUdGQ8gZ6hMTgS8aE1QO_jz-RQcJRTL7nNxDlOfqvYqWoDAZQ_ZWY_M6F8UH4wPJJCJcsIFk/s1600/Half+and+half.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I don't know- I just thought it was cool looking</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoCNDVSpEgu2bQCeCJEk70mF3i88KFaq0K8fB4xZUIblLFhkX4D03BKURfwju2PvvD9EZ5lpeMVaE1Kws3YaarS8j4iidqzCH4UcE8k6DqK2m7uB4MB8aYsWEms_V58Ow-j3niNQ_eXLk/s1600/Hollyhock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoCNDVSpEgu2bQCeCJEk70mF3i88KFaq0K8fB4xZUIblLFhkX4D03BKURfwju2PvvD9EZ5lpeMVaE1Kws3YaarS8j4iidqzCH4UcE8k6DqK2m7uB4MB8aYsWEms_V58Ow-j3niNQ_eXLk/s1600/Hollyhock.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coming in to a hollyhock</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtYE-RgZJCSeyxE1f0xkQn7ZBBMe5fnnrlmiSh9p91gS-M3EQCnedqSK2eGCh6DA4yoJfIX-wh9ecNNrq0WXXNMmlS06DF4UWRSa-X8K0CuTvzoPRT7klSwTDEfAedesfqNUazCAmbFwI/s1600/New+Comb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtYE-RgZJCSeyxE1f0xkQn7ZBBMe5fnnrlmiSh9p91gS-M3EQCnedqSK2eGCh6DA4yoJfIX-wh9ecNNrq0WXXNMmlS06DF4UWRSa-X8K0CuTvzoPRT7klSwTDEfAedesfqNUazCAmbFwI/s1600/New+Comb.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Drawing comb on a new frame</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeSmX02KS22kVl8mQmMMvGor9xidAUT93l2NqIfPqS9BB03dpBQBFbboc6Y_AybNcntjdFDRCDzrg9mzvMnhG7cwH8rNkDq52fM1z29BMD248YAHl9ZITfutaSJxUmf8U8KFMWWf4-ZA0/s1600/Midwinter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeSmX02KS22kVl8mQmMMvGor9xidAUT93l2NqIfPqS9BB03dpBQBFbboc6Y_AybNcntjdFDRCDzrg9mzvMnhG7cwH8rNkDq52fM1z29BMD248YAHl9ZITfutaSJxUmf8U8KFMWWf4-ZA0/s1600/Midwinter.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Midwinter hives</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHct36AA8LhzT3sOit5-k_JmMPxWU0IJ_FNiwtWs9-e-QGPCjDr8DCi-ZPGfhdRfbpH8M1f_7lkQqy9nLLPil48Yoco6gbXKMpYVfrCo2TKM0V3v8Xkkybh8GBHsWYJErhxIcUyJohgkc/s1600/Making+Progress.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHct36AA8LhzT3sOit5-k_JmMPxWU0IJ_FNiwtWs9-e-QGPCjDr8DCi-ZPGfhdRfbpH8M1f_7lkQqy9nLLPil48Yoco6gbXKMpYVfrCo2TKM0V3v8Xkkybh8GBHsWYJErhxIcUyJohgkc/s1600/Making+Progress.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Filling a frame with nectar- a little over half full</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifZoLjQB0T1aTUXUWBT8rN5xTMDE4a3jfvIUODgMqH30dFmYItwL-Nv4-iIgWnGOpylX71RdVUZjGd6W0rx2DKOULXvIGF0gJOqJ4gGbjM8V71H5C7DigXIgV88SShChTETtYx_5w09jk/s1600/Lilacs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifZoLjQB0T1aTUXUWBT8rN5xTMDE4a3jfvIUODgMqH30dFmYItwL-Nv4-iIgWnGOpylX71RdVUZjGd6W0rx2DKOULXvIGF0gJOqJ4gGbjM8V71H5C7DigXIgV88SShChTETtYx_5w09jk/s1600/Lilacs.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bee on lilacs in the back yard</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx9J3nOMXra9nARWy57aJlYZ8cEJQoPa6Lij-Hk2Ytow6QTZDx9wvn3vCa9hQmj1q0v3yk0ovkc6KDrQGjV0FzqiXO5UNwH6c1OHj-fC3KYGzZkvyIURX0HWZOuBOt-6V0KA0UgMx2h4w/s1600/Orientation+flights+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx9J3nOMXra9nARWy57aJlYZ8cEJQoPa6Lij-Hk2Ytow6QTZDx9wvn3vCa9hQmj1q0v3yk0ovkc6KDrQGjV0FzqiXO5UNwH6c1OHj-fC3KYGzZkvyIURX0HWZOuBOt-6V0KA0UgMx2h4w/s1600/Orientation+flights+2.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Orientation flights in front of the hive</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKabUfodK0UfRIvDk6JzcNfRGTh2wD3aDxo8u3XsjJhyphenhyphenMeTsOKLBj7HfEsDXQDBd_MsLoEB-CMGo7zdhr13BmL6QPH034fUILH-c6BYjxexu821JeUj8WrzF1wNrSqHEJ5i4wyvbHPB1A/s1600/Orientation+flights.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKabUfodK0UfRIvDk6JzcNfRGTh2wD3aDxo8u3XsjJhyphenhyphenMeTsOKLBj7HfEsDXQDBd_MsLoEB-CMGo7zdhr13BmL6QPH034fUILH-c6BYjxexu821JeUj8WrzF1wNrSqHEJ5i4wyvbHPB1A/s1600/Orientation+flights.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More orientation flights</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgntKeuPSGtXri42st2sywAZi82lRDQTPtDky7_UmlH-WfFjW9lItQ8Yp0vf8IvIclE49dxCHB2VelEupAI_mfnACZJ5NViGKyvH1RbBIUKvrN8DpCfux_MWR19p_BHKXN9KkBU3ySnYow/s1600/Pear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgntKeuPSGtXri42st2sywAZi82lRDQTPtDky7_UmlH-WfFjW9lItQ8Yp0vf8IvIclE49dxCHB2VelEupAI_mfnACZJ5NViGKyvH1RbBIUKvrN8DpCfux_MWR19p_BHKXN9KkBU3ySnYow/s1600/Pear.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bee on a pear blossom in the backyard</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHBhQaVSH_mnMHZ6_o8ve6uYnkQrbr7lzPJY8rqlN-3ho24k3-r-uzyzFJSAXJgdV4NWfgcg7esRAJgrZQzs3GfryYITJlXzorohM-z7sdCImjkXc1bqna9QwSOUd6gJ0DE6NYlbgoLyY/s1600/Pretty+frame+of+honey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHBhQaVSH_mnMHZ6_o8ve6uYnkQrbr7lzPJY8rqlN-3ho24k3-r-uzyzFJSAXJgdV4NWfgcg7esRAJgrZQzs3GfryYITJlXzorohM-z7sdCImjkXc1bqna9QwSOUd6gJ0DE6NYlbgoLyY/s1600/Pretty+frame+of+honey.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The bees finishing up a beautiful frame of honey</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1UO4vXhU2Een8bQLacS25YjC-5LnRmba4XUrCkpEE4knh3enSnhVooYAZJy_G6BxcujhHtACZXiju-nPG5F7gxprtJnm_evioxblDcYAfjBfRhw2ummT9T62h7cyEhzPj5KtFAfaxBjQ/s1600/Swarm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1UO4vXhU2Een8bQLacS25YjC-5LnRmba4XUrCkpEE4knh3enSnhVooYAZJy_G6BxcujhHtACZXiju-nPG5F7gxprtJnm_evioxblDcYAfjBfRhw2ummT9T62h7cyEhzPj5KtFAfaxBjQ/s1600/Swarm.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the hives swarmed and landed in the neighbors bushes</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiullSndhAPaAEqsSiV6Y5CylXCxMuBpS3LeDUS8V7zfJNwdBlEntHhPGqEPF0aYddnHzc-vH0UzQnRFCwjCAXQ-0KQrAGq7QDryB-ZRUZyFAdB2gia4rg-9yx7aeLxIbI15vPAQ6MeEcg/s1600/Russian+olive.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiullSndhAPaAEqsSiV6Y5CylXCxMuBpS3LeDUS8V7zfJNwdBlEntHhPGqEPF0aYddnHzc-vH0UzQnRFCwjCAXQ-0KQrAGq7QDryB-ZRUZyFAdB2gia4rg-9yx7aeLxIbI15vPAQ6MeEcg/s1600/Russian+olive.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bee on a Russian olive blossom</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMcVHjHpn0Wj5iiE1oQBkSVCnTFf7kPc_zKuDVPtYTyGQUTwo5lloiEvXPYwB9TSmjvx9sDaanGRU928d0xxKxK-4PFoQNjbIUVCGIJurdM83jrXqiaR8NC0Mh1aDfMpBbDSLgvkmJA0Y/s1600/Queen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMcVHjHpn0Wj5iiE1oQBkSVCnTFf7kPc_zKuDVPtYTyGQUTwo5lloiEvXPYwB9TSmjvx9sDaanGRU928d0xxKxK-4PFoQNjbIUVCGIJurdM83jrXqiaR8NC0Mh1aDfMpBbDSLgvkmJA0Y/s1600/Queen.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Queen bee- isn't she beautiful?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXbsKN7zxdKHJPq7QruL0JAzbviUCRZg9HOVsn0k8_qcVoyKjtlOkt9FU5HdRFEfIckYhDiHaNDOlJjlzyO4p9Oq9BF7u0ZJ3aZmjh3j7v6O6jpZqWeug-or3ISQV07uAPZUY-iPlv9sE/s1600/Queen+cup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXbsKN7zxdKHJPq7QruL0JAzbviUCRZg9HOVsn0k8_qcVoyKjtlOkt9FU5HdRFEfIckYhDiHaNDOlJjlzyO4p9Oq9BF7u0ZJ3aZmjh3j7v6O6jpZqWeug-or3ISQV07uAPZUY-iPlv9sE/s1600/Queen+cup.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Queen cup. I was just trying to show that it was empty, but it turned out to be a cool picture at a cool angle.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNfvtMwywtn3bXHxFfeH-0zdre2mT35bArpTFSoPxzOsNyzCVR1w1PdkCdEoerahIY-2yw8xwpYXyueB2flDxVeHj9O_FcvfDE4eJaqzI3HPOxcht8nvN5Lyd5uQDvRU2TUnkdy3hZ-uI/s1600/Pussy+willow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNfvtMwywtn3bXHxFfeH-0zdre2mT35bArpTFSoPxzOsNyzCVR1w1PdkCdEoerahIY-2yw8xwpYXyueB2flDxVeHj9O_FcvfDE4eJaqzI3HPOxcht8nvN5Lyd5uQDvRU2TUnkdy3hZ-uI/s1600/Pussy+willow.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bee on our pussy willow. Beautiful pollen basket!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs2DHYjfZLpR0Re2NPwTDMylFcvZE8GKwqL8mvni_IT38tNM2aQgxbT4RZsz6MskR-0htzAjw_jKLCW_ts8bacQokL597q1uz5l-IVZ0svzeKrbpPkHQiSCugLxY-SYl56Q9DM01mApYI/s1600/dandelion+proboscis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs2DHYjfZLpR0Re2NPwTDMylFcvZE8GKwqL8mvni_IT38tNM2aQgxbT4RZsz6MskR-0htzAjw_jKLCW_ts8bacQokL597q1uz5l-IVZ0svzeKrbpPkHQiSCugLxY-SYl56Q9DM01mApYI/s1600/dandelion+proboscis.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bee on a backyard dandelion</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiBq8cPOMw6p8X7Yn4OC9g8kAVcpthX2o2TU8MXbWWmW9cDYMV23uHA4YFFvlVXBTt5hJRaz-5UIycw7dd7K53xgu0b5HWqkmQWeHQ2EvSvgpnfTdlsEYYRPgkfFlN8-Z9KkPatq_YaZc/s1600/apple+hanging+on.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiBq8cPOMw6p8X7Yn4OC9g8kAVcpthX2o2TU8MXbWWmW9cDYMV23uHA4YFFvlVXBTt5hJRaz-5UIycw7dd7K53xgu0b5HWqkmQWeHQ2EvSvgpnfTdlsEYYRPgkfFlN8-Z9KkPatq_YaZc/s1600/apple+hanging+on.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Barely hanging on to a backyard apple blossom</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDuY4AyuukQUhOVHIAFVXovAdY2vo2LdcdKe6NWcGVK7CJBwo0iSmWhhILYVy4ubBOMQVgTJpVeRKWpOM-azyMY7OmhrOC6Ggh0CZDE6gxevZgjvn8UHh-9e96JK__BaoJCKU2Od3XO6E/s1600/Translucent+bee+2+5-14-10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDuY4AyuukQUhOVHIAFVXovAdY2vo2LdcdKe6NWcGVK7CJBwo0iSmWhhILYVy4ubBOMQVgTJpVeRKWpOM-azyMY7OmhrOC6Ggh0CZDE6gxevZgjvn8UHh-9e96JK__BaoJCKU2Od3XO6E/s320/Translucent+bee+2+5-14-10.jpg" width="317" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Translucent bee. One of my favorites!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikZKxbG9Vsv7XPSqt5MxEyeIJmwymBRMtYNaB_6XmOxW0ULfRHHli_oYoweD2vM72VErkvxob17h19EaO8OjtqTUAckR5w4Pwb4R9pxlJDgwNhT_Wxhs4QTc3WF6MUNVdEpLJJtaqd2sY/s1600/Through+the+smoke.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikZKxbG9Vsv7XPSqt5MxEyeIJmwymBRMtYNaB_6XmOxW0ULfRHHli_oYoweD2vM72VErkvxob17h19EaO8OjtqTUAckR5w4Pwb4R9pxlJDgwNhT_Wxhs4QTc3WF6MUNVdEpLJJtaqd2sY/s320/Through+the+smoke.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I don't know why, but I have always liked this picture with the bees on the frame a little out of focus and the sun shining through the smoke from the smoker.</td></tr>
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</div>
Robertson Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564514431401201303noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904270599577868856.post-91646149088535653242013-04-07T18:02:00.002-06:002013-04-07T18:02:59.288-06:00Bloom Dates<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
When I started keeping bees five years ago I really didn't know what I was doing and had a ton of questions. One of the places I would go to ask those questions was to an online forum called <a href="http://www.beesource.com/forums/forum.php" target="_blank">Beesource</a>. The forum is full of beekeepers both old and new who ask questions and share their experiences. I got a lot of good advice when I was first starting out but was also frustrated with some of the answers. I would almost always get responses that ended with something like "That is what I would do in my location, but that might be completely opposite from what you should do in your location."<br />
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It is true that the timing of bee activity, when and which flowers they will visit, how much honey they might produce, etc. depends a lot on location. Even here in Wyoming I could never get a straight answer about which blossoms would be available and when they would bloom. Nectar flows start here in Lovell earlier than they start in Powell thirty miles away, and that is earlier than when the same nectar flows will start in Cody another twenty miles down the highway.<br />
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I came across a tool the other day that allows beekeepers to map their location and record bloom dates of various flowers. This tool was just created last week by a fellow beekeeper who shared in on Beesource. I wish this had been available five years ago. It consists of a form (<a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1MddFGao2e5-4LpidQROSsBQYAubNAIQquQrYxhk9vyQ/viewform" target="_blank">find it here</a>) in which you can record location, bloom dates, and comments and a map (<a href="https://www.google.com/fusiontables/embedviz?viz=MAP&q=select+col1+from+1voxcB8Rk7sKPA8EzXJPWV_mvcqdy0NsYnYteFqw&h=false&lat=38.14821250888208&lng=-74.66607200327144&z=5&t=1&l=col1&y=2&tmplt=3" target="_blank">find it here</a>) on which the information is plotted. I have added the links to the group of links on the side bar.<br />
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Here is an image of what the map looks like today:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXYIiBdaDWPiaVWjuIF61HajlK2grOETN9GzJq4ZFyeEnzrenllxiE7uC3hNjmiJispf5k0NHwyGU_MLuW8I6elKsp5cBtZEJIvl43iuffpEKx8EdBbfviKpQBsNCrVmAVsZX6-c4ezwU/s1600/bloom+map2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXYIiBdaDWPiaVWjuIF61HajlK2grOETN9GzJq4ZFyeEnzrenllxiE7uC3hNjmiJispf5k0NHwyGU_MLuW8I6elKsp5cBtZEJIvl43iuffpEKx8EdBbfviKpQBsNCrVmAVsZX6-c4ezwU/s320/bloom+map2.png" width="320" /></a></div>
There are only a few entries that have been added so far. I would love to see it fill up and see everybody's bloom dates around the world.</div>
Robertson Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564514431401201303noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904270599577868856.post-39743225900490397162013-04-05T13:40:00.000-06:002013-04-05T13:40:59.539-06:00Pussy Willow Bloom 2013<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The pussy willow bloomed a few days ago on April 2nd. This is always an exciting day as it is the first bloom of the year where I can actually see the bees working the blossoms. They actually do start bringing in a pale yellow pollen a week or two before the pussy willow blooms, but I have never been able to figure out where it is coming from.<br />
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The pussy willow bloom also give me a good idea of when honey production will kick into high gear. For the last three years at least, the alfalfa bloom has occurred seventy days after the pussy willow. That should put this year's alfalfa bloom on June 11th. Between now and then we will have the dandelion and fruit tree blooms- those will provide a little extra honey but not much. Once the alfalfa starts up I will be checking the honey supers on a weekly basis.<br />
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Anyway- here are a few photos of the bees working the pussy willow in the back yard:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRkOElZDFKXkEwlebhYMTgK55Ymn4AnvGs4VfzTPVpaj5cgKggJmIxKMCUWFMqf8LMvNdHt2jLL9xYHnqUfLFWYFM-tA9OybA-KWpZ4_wXdStJxdaeqjLj4wfSZyxP4xd1NyX9jaSbfiM/s1600/IMG_4670.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRkOElZDFKXkEwlebhYMTgK55Ymn4AnvGs4VfzTPVpaj5cgKggJmIxKMCUWFMqf8LMvNdHt2jLL9xYHnqUfLFWYFM-tA9OybA-KWpZ4_wXdStJxdaeqjLj4wfSZyxP4xd1NyX9jaSbfiM/s320/IMG_4670.JPG" width="303" /></a></div>
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These last few photos show some of the native pollinators working the blossoms along side the honeybees:<br />
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Robertson Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564514431401201303noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904270599577868856.post-71892012767182447212013-03-15T21:36:00.000-06:002013-03-17T14:46:39.490-06:00Gearing Up for Bee Season!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The weather has been very mild lately with daytime temperatures getting up around 60 degrees Fahrenheit (15.5 degrees Celsius) and the bees have been out all over the yard. I feel kind of sorry for the little girls- out looking for pollen and nectar but not finding anything to bring back home.<br />
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Yesterday I was watching the hives and noticed that Ida and Svetlana had a lot of bees coming and going but Georgia did not have a single bee around her entrance. Just a few days ago I peeked in on Georgia and saw a large cluster covering the bee candy I laid on top of her frames a few weeks ago, so I knew that she was still alive. I surmised that maybe she had too much debris, dead bees, etc. blocking the inside of her entrance to allow any bees in or out. I decided to suit up and see what was going on.<br />
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I popped Georgia's top off, removed the remaining bee candy, and found a large cluster of bees. Georgia has come through the winter in great shape. This does worry me a little; if her population grows too big I might not be able to prevent her from swarming. Now, I had not been inside the hive since last September- it is amazing how solidly the bees can glue everything together in 6 months. It was a real bear to get things separated and taken apart.<br />
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I did eventually succeed at getting the two deep hive bodies taken apart and got a view of the bottom board. It was surprisingly clean. I don't know why the bees were not out flying like the other two hives but there was nothing blocking their way. I also found that the hive was very light. The bees had consumed all but a couple frames of honey and were packing the bee candy away into the empty comb. I didn't have a lot of time yesterday so couldn't do a really thorough job of cleaning out the hive, unsticking all the frames, removing the excess burr comb, etc. One of these days when I have a good afternoon I will have to get out, clean out the hives, and give each of them some sugar syrup.<br />
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I did take a couple of minutes to look through Svetlana. She is a whole other story. Last year we decided to start our third hive with a package of Russian hybrids which we named Svetlana. She never did take off last year and only filled up a partial medium super of honey on top of her two deep hive bodies. Her bees were also more aggressive than the bees in our other two hives of Italians and Carniolan/Italian hybrids. They were not so aggressive as to bother us in the garden but they were not very easy to work with in the hive. Last fall I decided to take all the honey I could from her deep hive bodies and left only the frames that contained brood. I ended up condensing her down to one deep hive body with only nine frames, none of which were completely full of honey as each one of them contained brood. With such a small amount of honey I assumed she would die out over the winter and I would be able to split one of my other two hives into her vacated hive bodies.<br />
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With only nine partial frames of honey left for her last September, no fall feeding, and no supplemental feeding over the winter, she has survived with a surprisingly strong cluster. Here are a couple of pictures of what she looks like now.<br />
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She still has two frames full of honey, one frame partially full, and honey in the burr comb the bees built in the extra space. I pulled out a frame directly beneath the main cluster and found both capped and uncapped brood. Looks like this queen is already getting busy. Talk about hardy bees! With the way these gals came through the winter I cannot bring myself to let them die out. So these Russians will get another chance.<br />
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We are only half way through march but it looks like spring is here. Here is a photo of what our pussy willow looks like right now.<br />
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In just a couple of weeks all those fuzzy white catkins will pop out in yellow blossoms and the bees will go nuts on their first pollen source of the year.</div>
Robertson Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564514431401201303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904270599577868856.post-9892405316476513012013-02-23T22:27:00.002-07:002013-02-23T22:34:54.804-07:00Electric Bees?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Here are two facts that almost everybody knows: Flowers need bees for pollination, and bees need flowers for pollen and nectar. The question then is- How do they find each other?<br />
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I have read from more than one source that flowers of some colors do a better job of attracting bees than flowers of other colors. But here is what I have noticed in my unscientific observations: in my own yard yellow blossoms such as dandelions, squash, and broccoli blossoms do an excellent job of attracting bees. The pink apple blossoms also get covered in bees. White dutch clover doesn't have any trouble attracting the bees to their blossoms either. And of course the blue and purple alfalfa blossoms just outside of town provide the most important nectar flow of the year in my area. So does one color do a better job of attracting bees than the others? I'm not really sure.<br />
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I am also aware that fragrance can attract bees as well. Several years ago I read an article about how a pitcher for some major league baseball team (I don't remember who it was or what team he pitched for. I want to say he pitched for the Diamondbacks, but it could have been that they were just in Arizona for spring training.) had to leave the game early because the honeybees would not leave him alone. They were not stinging him, just constantly swarming around his head. It turned out that he had used a coconut flavored hair gel that was attracting the bees to him.<br />
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It seems to me that honey bees must use a combination of sight and smell to find the most productive flowers. But as it turns out there is a little more to the story. I heard a story on the radio the other day about a third way that bees find flowers- by detecting electrical signals! Apparently flowers give a weak electrical field which bees are able to detect. The more I learn about bees the more amazed I become!<br />
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Here is a link to the article on NPR if you would like to check it out for yourself. <br />
<a href="http://www.npr.org/2013/02/22/172611866/honey-its-electric-bees-sense-charge-on-flowers?sc=17&f=1001" target="_blank">Honey, It's Electric: Bees Sense Charge On Flowers</a></div>
Robertson Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564514431401201303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904270599577868856.post-53968540468041434052013-02-19T23:06:00.002-07:002013-02-19T23:19:18.657-07:00Happy Birthday To Me<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
My birthday doesn't actually come around until April, but I was talking about a piece of beekeeping equipment I would like to own so my wife ordered it and a few other items as an early birthday present. Here is a short video showcasing what she got me. You will even catch a glimpse of my youngest son. You can click in the lower right corner of the videos to view them in full screen.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dCDZnBeO1Ww?rel=0" width="420"></iframe><br />
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This next video is not bee related. It is a video of one of my favorite places on earth, and I felt the urge to share it with the rest of you. I recorded the video with my phone as my daughter and I were backpacking last summer. As beautiful as it is in the video, it is even more spectacular in real life.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/u0NZie9vKC4?rel=0" width="420"></iframe></div>
Robertson Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564514431401201303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904270599577868856.post-54308218672436562322013-02-02T14:25:00.000-07:002013-02-02T14:25:05.588-07:00Mid Winter<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Here we are in the middle of winter. There is not much going on with the bees this time of year. They stay snug in their hives in a tight cluster feeding on honey while they endure the cold days of February. They do stay warm enough though- they are able to generate heat by shivering their wing muscles or abdomen muscles (I have heard both) and can keep the inside of the cluster 90 degrees Fahrenheit (that's 32 degrees Celsius) even in the bitter cold. Amazing! Isn't it?</div>
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We have had a few snow storms blow through in the last couple of weeks. Here is what the hives look like right now.</div>
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I cleared the now away form the hive entrances after I took the picture.<br />
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You may be wondering about the hive on the far right and asking why I lefter her to over winter with just one deep hive body. Well, that requires some explanation....<br />
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Last spring I started that hive with a three pound package of Russian hybrid bees. I had heard that they can produce more honey than other varieties because they are able to work in cooler temperatures. That should translate into working earlier in the morning and later into the evening. I found that this was not the case. I did find however, that Russian hybrids tend to more aggressive than our other bees have been. Not that they bothered us in the garden or near the hive, but there was no way I could ever enter the hive without my veil and gloves. I would have been stung to death. They were not at all like the other two hives which have been so calm I could get through the entire hive without being bothered.<br />
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This fall I decided to take all the honey I could from the Russian hybrids, not feed them, and let the hive die out over the winter. The plan is now to buy a new Italian queen this spring and split one of the existing hives into the Russian hybrid hive. I ended up leaving only four deep frames in one box- I didn't extract those frames because they were partially full of brood.<br />
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As I knocked on the side of each hive today I heard the buzzing of bees in all three- including the Russians! They certainly do seem to be hardy.<br />
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I suppose I ought to make some <a href="http://robertsonbees.blogspot.com/2011/02/candy-is-in.html" target="_blank">bee candy</a> to make sure that Ida and Georgia (the too desirable hives) will have enough to make it through the next few months until the dandelions start blooming. Can't wait! </div>
Robertson Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564514431401201303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904270599577868856.post-35440921550711750812013-01-22T15:18:00.000-07:002013-01-22T15:18:11.207-07:00Creamed Honey<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I have been a little remiss in my responsibilities as a blogger. It has been a while, five months to be exact, since I have posted anything. I even failed to blog about our 2012 honey harvest. We did have a good harvest- with the nine supers we harvested last September and the two supers we harvested last June we ended up with about thirty gallons for the year! Not bad for three hives, one of which was created form a split of the other existing hive and the third consisting of a newly installed 3 pound package of bees. We ended up selling fifteen gallons in one pound jars and one gallon pails and kept the other fifteen gallons for ourselves.<br />
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We decided to try an experiment and attempt some creamed honey this year. First of all, you have to understand that creamed honey has nothing to do with cream or any other dairy product. It actually consists of honey and nothing else- honey that is partially crystallized with uniform microcrystals that give the honey a creamier texture. It is more spreadable and a little less messy and will not crystallize into a hard rock making it difficult to use.<br />
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Rather than explaining the process for making creamed honey I will let you watch the video that I used for instructions. It comes from a blog at <a href="http://naturesnectar.blogspot.com/">naturesnectar.blogspot.com</a>. It is an excellent resource for beekeepers, and I have learned a lot from it. Double click on the video for full screen.<br />
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We mixed the creamed honey in a five gallon bucket which has since been sitting down in our cool store room. We should have transferred it to smaller containers a long time ago- that would have made it easier to work with. Today we put some in pint jars. Since cool creamed honey is stiff I had to dig it out with an ice cream scoop. It will be a lot easier to warm the pint jars up to room temperature and make the honey more usable. Here are a couple of pictures of our creamed honey.<br />
<img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8054/8405755011_7d80b852ea_z.jpg" /><br />
<img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8223/8406849484_082d20b7a6_z.jpg" /><br />
You can see by looking at the side of the bucket that the creamed honey sits on top and there is a layer of liquid honey down below. That is because the spoon I used to mix the in creamed honey crystals was not long enough to reach the bottom. But if you look closely, it appears as though the bottom portion is beginning to cream as well. I guess we won't know for sure until we get down to the bottom.<br />
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Next year we will cream the honey again but will put it in smaller containers- maybe one gallon pails.<br />
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On a different subject, I do find it interesting that our liquid honey has not begun to crystallize yet. Last year crystallization began in November. The main source of nectar in our area is alfalfa, but I guess there must be variations in the amount of nectar from the different sources or maybe even differences in sugar content of nectar from year to year. In any case the differences are great enough to affect the rate of crystallization of our honey. I can't wait to find out how this year's crop will turn out.</div>
Robertson Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564514431401201303noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904270599577868856.post-40114245411713467162012-08-26T18:08:00.000-06:002012-08-26T18:08:09.732-06:00Do Bees Like Broccoli?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The question is, Do bees like broccoli?<br />
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The answer is, Yes!<br />
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For some reason the broccoli in our garden did not form nice tight heads this year so we never cut them. They eventually went to seed, and the little yellow flowers turned out to be very attractive to the bees!<br />
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Robertson Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564514431401201303noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904270599577868856.post-20352570846349423102012-08-23T18:38:00.000-06:002012-08-23T18:46:36.889-06:00Bumper Crop<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Well, I see that I haven't posted anything in this blog since June 11th. I have had a very busy summer and haven't had time to keep up very well. Besides neglecting the blog I feel like I have neglected the bees as well. But, as you will see the bees have taken care of themselves.<br />
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We had a very mild winter, and spring started early this year. The alfalfa, which is our main nectar source, blossomed a full three weeks early, but the majority of the fields within a couple miles of our house did not get cut any earlier than they usually do. This gave the bees a huge extended nectar flow. In fact, I ended up putting four supers on both Ida and Georgia and ran out of supers by the end of June. I extracted two supers full and got 70 lbs (about 6 gallons) so I would have some supers to put back on the hives.<br />
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That is when things got really busy, and I rarely got back out to check the bees. But about three weeks ago I did get out and quickly checked Svetlana, that is the new hive from the package of Russian hybrids I installed in April. She had had one super on her for quite some time and had hardly touched it. All the frames were still empty. I decided that, when I had time, I would take the honey from her deep hive bodies and let her die out over the winter. I would then be able to split one of the other hives next spring and put them in Svetlana's hive. However, this last weekend I went out to pull her deep frames and found that she had almost completely filled in the entire super. I decided to leave her alone and let the bees continue with their work. I guess when they decided to get after it they really got after it.<br />
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Since we are getting close to the end of August I went out today to check the supers and get an idea of how much honey we might get and to decide how long to wait before we harvest. It was amazing how gentle the bees were- I went through all nine supers with no smoke, and they did not get upset at all. Here is a picture of one of the frames out of Ida. This is what I like to see- a nice fat frame of honey all capped and ready for extraction.<br />
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Almost all of the frames in the hives looked just like this. I think that six of the supers could be extracted right now. The other three are probably 75% full and capped. I will give them a couple more weeks and plan on taking their honey sometime in the first week of September.<br />
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Wow- nine supers! That could mean up to twenty-seven gallons of honey this fall plus the two we extracted in June. This has definitely been a bumper year. Our biggest year until now has been just seventeen gallons. A new record for the Robertson bees!<br />
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If you have ever wondered what happens to a hive when the beekeeper doesn't stay on top of things and keep the burr comb cleaned out you can just look here.<br />
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The bees had built so much extra comb and stuck everything together so well that it was really difficult to pry the supers apart. It is amazing how strong bees wax can be.<br />
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After prying the supers apart and exposing all the honey that had been stored between the frames, some of the bees come out for a little snack.<br />
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I took a little snack for myself and the family, too. Good stuff!</div>
Robertson Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564514431401201303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904270599577868856.post-89594147302379210542012-06-11T14:44:00.000-06:002012-06-11T14:44:30.794-06:00Honey Is On Its Way<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
When the alfalfa and the Russian olives started blooming a couple of weeks ago I put two supers on both Ida and Georgia. I always feel optimistic about the first alfalfa nectar flow and hope the bees will need two supers to contain all the nectar they are bringing in. It never happens that way though- it is a long slow process with the bees steadily bringing in nectar all summer long. By the end of the summer I expect to have three (maybe four if it is a good year) supers on each hive.<br />
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As I checked the hives today I found that both Ida and Georgia have some nectar on their second super. There is not a lot, just a little in a few frames. In their first supers they both have at least some nectar in every frame. Here is s picture of the nectar they are collecting.<br />
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I think, if you zoom in on the picture, you can see the sun reflecting off the nectar in the center right part of the frame. This was photo is from Georgia and was actually taken last week. I did not have the camera with me today.<br />
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Ida is ahead of Georgia in both nectar collection and population. Ida has three or four frames in her super that are almost completely full of nectar. I expect to see some capped honey next week.<br />
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Svetlana is slowly progressing. I have been feeding her sugar syrup to help her draw comb on the frames in her two deep hive bodies. I thought she would be all filled out and ready for her first honey super today, but she still has a couple of frames to draw before that can happen. I will make her more sugar syrup today. I think that by next week she should be ready to go, and we will have honey on its way from all three hives.</div>Robertson Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564514431401201303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904270599577868856.post-67182231280325398592012-06-05T11:47:00.000-06:002012-06-05T11:47:35.454-06:00We Are Not Queenless<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I guess that title might make it sound like I am talking about Queen Elizabeth's 60 year jubilee, but I am not. I am talking about the hives and specifically, Georgia. Let me explain the back story.<br />
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Our little apiary consists of three hives: Georgia, Ida, and Svetlana. Svetlana is the new hive of Russian hybrids we set up from a package this spring. Georgia is one of our original hives we installed back in 2009- boy does time fly! Ida was created when we split Georgia earlier this spring and moved half of Georgia's bees (with the queen) into Virginia's old digs. Virginia died out after going queenless and developing laying workers late last summer. Are you with me so far?<br />
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The Italian mutt queen that was in Georgia got moved over to Ida during the split. She has continued to lay eggs and has kept that hive good and healthy. As Georgia was then queenless, we ordered a new queen from the <a href="http://kelleybees.com/" target="_blank">Walter T Kelley</a> beekeeping supply company. We ended up getting a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carniolan_bee" target="_blank">Carniolan</a> queen who had been bred with Minnesota Hygienic drones. Minnesota Hygienic bees are Italian's that have been selected for increased hygienic behavior- they keep the hive cleaner and are thus more "resistant" to mites and other diseases. Georgia's bee seemed to accept her very well and a week later I found some eggs in the hive- not a lot, but some. I figured we were on our way to a good year.<br />
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The next week I checked on her again but found no eggs at all. I was discouraged. I removed a frame of very young larva from Ida and put them in Georgia so they could make their own queen. I went back again a week after that to make sure they were making supercedure cells for a new queen but found none. Instead, I found... eggs! It has been a roller coaster.<br />
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It has now been a couple of weeks and I thought I better check the hives again. I wanted to check everyone for swarm cells and I also just wanted to make sure that everyone was queen right. Ida and Svetlana are doing great queen-wise, but I was still a little worried about Georgia. As I started going through her hive I only saw empty frames and some honey. On the fourth frame I pulled I found a bunch of brood- capped and uncapped, but I wanted to see eggs. On the fifth frame I also found brood but no eggs- but right there on to of the frame was the big plump queen. Can you spot her in these first two photos?<br />
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Here is a close up of her majesty.<br />
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Isn't she beautiful? Better looking than Queen Elizabeth, I think. This week I choose to celebrate the reign of Georgia's queen. May she live long and lay lots of eggs!<br />
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It does feel good to be queen right in all three hives!!</div>Robertson Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564514431401201303noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904270599577868856.post-45557308969561328742012-06-03T13:24:00.000-06:002012-06-03T13:24:23.620-06:00Calling The Bees Home<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I got to see something last night that I have never seen before, and it was really quite amazing. I wandered out to the garden last evening right at dusk and, as it turns out, about 15 minutes before it started to rain. As I got close to the hives I noticed that there were a lot of bees coming home. The more closely I looked the more bees I could see. They were coming in from all directions. I knelt down next to one of the hives and looked out and up at about a 50-60 degree angle and, over the course of a few minutes, saw thousands of bees flying straight toward me and landing on the front porches of the hives next to me. It was quite a sight.<br />
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I wonder if they were just coming home for the evening all at the same time or if they sensed that the rain was about to fall and that caused them all to return at once. I would have liked to have somehow gotten a picture but I really don't think a camera would have been able to pick it all up.</div>Robertson Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564514431401201303noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904270599577868856.post-71266879690940770462012-05-11T09:54:00.000-06:002012-05-11T09:54:40.136-06:00Bees On Blossoms<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We have already had various nectar flows this spring. Here are a few pictures of the nectar flows that have been occurring in our own backyard.<br />
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First, the pear tree blossomed. <br />
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We have only one small pear tree and I don't know of any others in the area. This tree does not contribute a lot of pollen and nectar, but it was full of bees. I suppose every little bit counts. Interestingly, the pollen from the pear tree is a pale green color.... curious. The person in the bee suit is Christina, my wife. We had just been checking the bees and she had not taken her suit off yet.<br />
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These next two photos are pictures of bees on our pear blossoms.<br />
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We have no photos of bees on the apple tree this year. It was getting a little out of control and I pruned it way back. I think the trauma caused it to not blossom.<br />
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The dandelion bloom has been in high gear for about a week now.<br />
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This is certainly the major source of pollen and nectar right now.</div>
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These last two photos of bees on our lilacs are interesting.</div>
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We have a lilac hedge that produces tons of blossoms. This is our fourth year with bees and I had never seen a single bee on any of the lilac blossoms. I had always assumed that the blossoms were too deep and narrow for the bees to access the nectar in the bottom. However, I spotted a handful of bees working the lilac blossoms the other day. After doing a little more research I found that bees will work lilac blossoms but usually only if there is no other nectar flow. What is strange is that while the lilacs are blooming there is a very strong dandelion nectar flow at the same time. I don't know what made these blossoms so attractive to these bees but it was neat to see.</div>Robertson Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564514431401201303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904270599577868856.post-49124929426110857452012-05-10T09:24:00.001-06:002012-05-10T09:24:27.523-06:00The Russians Are Coming!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The Russians are coming!! Actually, they already arrived. On April 18th our package of Russian hybrids finally made it to our front porch. We were excited to get them in the hive that we already had set up and ready to go, but the weather was rainy, windy, and cold. The 19th was the same. Finally, on the 20th, there was a break in the weather and we installed them in their little home. We made it just in time I think; when I removed the feeding can I found that it was completely empty. The following are some photos of how things went with Svetlana and how she is progressing.<br />
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This first photo is Svetlana in her package.<br />
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Three pounds of bees. I'm not sure exactly how many bees are in there, but it is a lot.</div>
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Here we are out at the hive. I am removing the feeder can. The other gentleman in the bee suit is my son. He is 14 years old and is taking more interest in working with the bees.<br />
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Here I am dumping the bees on top of the frames in the hive.<br />
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You can see some comb and some drone brood on the 3rd frame from the bottom. I stole a frame of pollen from Georgia to get Svetlana going. Perhaps I should have ordered some pollen patties for her but this seems to have worked okay.<br />
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Here in this photo the bees are spreading out and finding their way down into the frames.<br />
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I removed a frame to leave a space for the queen cage. She came in a plastic cage with a candy stopper. It took the bees a few days to eat the candy and release her into the hive. A few days after that she began laying eggs.<br />
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Here is a closer photo of the bees.<br />
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These Russians seem to be a little bit darker than the Italians in our other two hives have been.<br />
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I couldn't get all the bees out of the package so I left it open by the base of the hive.<br />
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It didn't take them long to find their way in.<br />
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Here, my son is pouring the sugar syrup into the top feeder.<br />
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If the bees don't have either nectar or sugar syrup they will not be able to draw comb. This gives them a good start.<br />
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Here the bees are finding their way up into the feeder.<br />
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It didn't take them long to finish off the first gallon of syrup.<br />
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These next three photos show the progress they have been making drawing comb on the frames.<br />
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The queen started laying eggs a few days after being released. I don't have any photos of that but she looks like she will be pretty prolific. As of a couple of days ago she had two full frames of eggs and brood.<br />
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This is what our little apiary looks like now. From left to right we have Ida, Georgia, and Svetlana.<br />
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No, the vine behind the hives is not dead- it is just one of the last things to green up on the spring. This photo was actually taken after I split Georgia to create Ida. But that will be a blog for another day.</div>Robertson Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564514431401201303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904270599577868856.post-74007651754406697442012-03-23T20:35:00.000-06:002012-03-23T20:35:13.186-06:00Pussy Willow Bloom 2012<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It has happened! The pussy willow bloomed today. It is one of the first key blooms of the year and supplies a lot of pollen for the bees. For the past two years the pussy willow has bloomed on or about April 11th. This puts us nearly 3 weeks ahead of schedule this year. I stopped by some other willow species in town and found that they have not yet bloomed. The dandelion bloom has not started yet either.<br />
Georgia is getting very full of bees- I think it would be a good idea to split her soon. The problem is that I have only seen two drones around the hive so far this spring. Without a sufficient supply of drones any new queen that is made after the split will not be able to mate well, and that will not make for a healthy hive. I do hope drone production starts up soon.<br />
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Here is a picture of the pussy willow. It was very full of bees- you could here the hum from quite a distance.<br />
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If you look through the willow branches you can see two hives. The hive closest to the pussy willow is empty and will become Ida after the split. The other one is Georgia.<br />
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Here are more photos of bees in the willow.<br />
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It seems a little early, but I do think spring is here.</div>Robertson Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564514431401201303noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904270599577868856.post-51312823897114185282012-03-12T20:07:00.000-06:002012-03-12T20:07:41.194-06:00Little White Fuzzies<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This past weekend I noticed little white puffs of fuzz popping out on the pussy willow.<br />
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Now in a couple of weeks these white fuzz balls should pop out in bright yellow blossoms covered in pollen, and the bees will kick pollen collection into high gear. I looked back through the blog to find<a href="http://robertsonbees.blogspot.com/2011/04/first-pollen-of-year.html" target="_blank"> last year's pussy willow bloom date</a> and found it on April 11th. It looks like this year we are about 2 weeks ahead of last year. This means that the big alfalfa bloom which has occurred on about June 20th for the last two years will happen closer to the first part of June- I can hardly wait!<br />
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I also noticed this past weekend that the bees are bringing in what looks like pollen. I don't see anything green or blooming so who knows where this is coming from. As you can see in the following photos the pollen baskets are small, but they are definitely there.<br />
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Interestingly, <a href="http://naturesnectar.blogspot.com/2012/03/pollen-coming-in.html" target="_blank">I read a blog today</a>, which is kept by an experienced beekeeper in Minnesota, stating that what beekeepers think is pollen coming in lately is actually dust from bird feeders and deer feeders. So, are my bees bringing in dust instead of pollen? Maybe. Or maybe there is a tree with catkins in the area that begins producing pollen earlier than other more obvious pollen sources. Hazelnut trees, for example, bloom and pollinate in the middle of winter.<br />
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What do my bees have on their legs? The world may never know- but they sure are fun to watch!</div>Robertson Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564514431401201303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904270599577868856.post-57409975738874080862012-03-10T21:06:00.000-07:002012-03-10T21:08:37.765-07:00The Hive Has Arrived<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It's here! I ordered a new hive from <a href="http://www.betterbee.com/" target="_blank">Betterbee</a> and it finally arrived. This new hive will become the new home of a 3 pound package of Russian hybrid bees I have coming from <a href="http://honeybeegenetics.com/home.html" target="_blank">Honey Bee Genetics</a> in Vacaville, CA.<br />
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My other two hives are polystyrene (styrofoam) Beemax hives. I ordered them when we first started keeping bees back in 2009. I thought that the thick styrofoam would offer better insulation for the bees during our cold winters. They have held up pretty well but are beginning to weather in some places. I decided to go with a regular wooden hive this time as there are plenty of bees in the area that seem to do fine without the extra insulation of styrofoam, and I think wood will stand up to the weather a little better.</div>
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Anyway, the package of Russian hybrids will be arriving in mid April and will be moving in to this hive. We are looking forward to having Svetlana join our little family.</div>
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If you have been following my blog you may already know that Virginia (one of the hives we started with in 2009) died out last fall and Georgia was left alone all winter. Georgia came through the winter in good condition and still has a good sized cluster. I am afraid we will be looking at another swarm if we do not do something with them. So... I am going to step outside my comfort zone and attempt to split Georgia and start another colony in Virginia's old hive.</div>
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My plan will be as follows- Probably sometime in April, when Georgia's population is booming and there is plenty of pollen coming in, I will take a few frames of bees, eggs, and brood from Georgia and transfer them to the empty hive. Hopefully the queen will be transferred with those frames, but I am a miserable queen finder. I have only been able to spot any of the queens a few times in the last few years. Wherever the queen ends up she should continue laying eggs and the other hive should be able to use some of the existing eggs to produce a new queen for that hive. Sounds easy enough, right? I just hope I don't screw everything up.</div>
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The new colony, split from Georgia and living in Virginia's old hive, will be named Ida. How did we come up with that name? Well, this split will kind of be like a sister to Georgia, and <a href="http://www.georgiaokeeffegallery.com/" target="_blank">Georgia O'Keeffe</a> had a sister named Ida. That works, doesn't it?</div>
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So if all goes well we will have Georgia, Ida, and Svetlana all living side by side in our backyard. I hope they can all get along.</div>
</div>Robertson Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564514431401201303noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904270599577868856.post-1567908887028321512012-02-14T08:51:00.000-07:002012-02-14T08:51:00.560-07:00Healthy Hive<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
About five days ago, as I already mentioned in my <a href="http://robertsonbees.blogspot.com/2012/02/winter-feeding.html" target="_blank">previous post</a>, I put a bunch of bee candy out in the hive. At that time the top of the cluster was just below the tops of the frames. The bees could be seen by looking down between the frames but there were no bees up on top of the frames. I added an empty medium super to provide space on top of the hive and placed the bee candy inside.<br />
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I have been wondering if the bees have started taking advantage of the bee candy or not so yesterday I went out, lifted the cover, and took the following pictures.<br />
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It looks like the bee candy tempted them enough to move up! Besides the bees seen here, there were bees busily moving up and down between the frames and a lot at the hive entrance moving dead bees out and taking off on cleansing flights. Georgia is looking good and healthy as we move toward spring. I think a split might be in her future.<br />
</div>Robertson Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564514431401201303noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904270599577868856.post-8960182159771778392012-02-09T17:56:00.000-07:002012-02-09T17:58:10.402-07:00Winter Feeding<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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There hasn't been much going on with the beehive this winter. When I last checked in with the blog in the first part of December we were experiencing bitter cold temperatures. Since then, though, we have had a very mild winter with most days getting up above freezing. <br />
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It seems like a milder winter would be better for the bees, but that isn't necessarily so. As I have learned from another blog called<a href="http://naturesnectar.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"> "What Should I Be Doing With My Bees This Month?"</a>, warmer temperatures result in more active bees that require more honey to eat. And if it is warm enough for the queen to start laying, the bees will really consume a lot of honey in an effort to keep all that brood warm. It doesn't take much to draw the conclusion that milder winters could mean more bees starving in February and March if supplemental feed isn't added to the hives. The aforementioned blog is kept by an experienced beekeeper in Minnesota and offers a lot of good tips for beekeeping in northern and colder climates. <br />
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As our winter thus far has been fairly mild I have been getting concerned about how much honey might still be left in our beehive. Last week I made a batch of bee candy to put on top of the frames. I used the following recipe:<br />
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Add 5 parts sugar to 1 part water. Add 1/4 teaspoon of vinegar for every pound of sugar and bring the whole thing to a boil. Continue to boil until the mixture reaches 234 degrees and then boil for 3 minutes more without stirring. Turn off the heat and allow the mixture to cool while stirring with a whisk. I don't know how far to cool the mixture before pouring it out- I haven't figured that part out yet. (If you are pouring into molds it might not make much difference, but if you are pouring onto a sheet of waxed paper you don't want it to be too hot or it will spread out too thin. That is what happened to me this time.) You can either pour the hot mixture out onto a sheet of waxed paper with a towel underneath or you can pour into a mold such as a cereal bowl or small cake pan that has been lined with waxed paper. Spray the waxed paper with cooking spray to make it easier to remove the candy after it has cooled. A quick google search for<a href="https://www.google.com/#hl=en&tok=VV47Sn2w6KlRkgBMwEI_Yw&cp=4&gs_id=n&xhr=t&q=bee+candy+recipe&pf=p&sclient=psy-ab&site=&source=hp&pbx=1&oq=bee+&aq=0p&aqi=p-p1g3&aql=&gs_sm=&gs_upl=&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.,cf.osb&fp=57e646bcc573a631&biw=1366&bih=569" target="_blank"> "bee candy recipe"</a> will give you a variety of recipes to choose from.<br />
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I made it out to the hive this afternoon to put the bee candy on the top of the frames.<br />
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You can see that the candy I poured out on a sheet of waxed paper ended up really thin and broke into several small pieces. I also poured some into two cereal bowls lined with waxed paper.<br />
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There were no bees on the top, but I could look down and see the top of the cluster just about an inch below the tops of the frames. The cluster is covering six frames. In the picture above, the cluster is covering the second frame from the top down to the third frame from the bottom. This seems like big cluster to me, but I don't know how far down into the hive the cluster extends. I could see a little way into the hive and I saw that the outer two frames on either end still have capped honey, but I don't know if that honey continues all the way down to the bottom of the frames or not.<br />
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In the following picture you can see the top of the cluster down between the frames.<br />
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I am hoping that the capped honey plus this bee candy will tide them over until the dandelions and willows start blooming in April.</div>Robertson Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11564514431401201303noreply@blogger.com0