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I can see that being the case in a more urban environment, but my apiary here is only about 50-60 feet from the highway. 8 hives, and harvested 6 supers last wednesday. 54 frames rendered over 15...

With the beeswax, it's as easy as heat and pour to make candles. The bees bought us a nice kit to make candles this year (hunny munny) so we are doing a little "crafting" for the upcoming festival....

Working like CRAZY mostly, and between that, working on our new place, and helping about 4 other folks with their bees also. At one point early this year, I had 13 hives. Due to aging queens, and...

Pesticides don't discriminate, as far as I know.

I know this pic is a little blurry. During an inspection, I found several queen cells, so I decided to do a split. Gathered up my equipment to do so, and when I got back to the hive, this queen cell...

I'll tell the girls you said so ;)

More bee adventure pics coming soon! Been a pretty wild spring here in SW GA!

On Sunday, I was enjoying the sunshine and cool breeze, along with low humidity, with my grandmother out in the meadow. Bees started boiling out of my #2 hive (westmost) so I handed off the buckskin...

Look, listen, and run.
Look before you go grabbing stuff, like old grills, any elevated box with an opening, eaves of houses, and anywhere else that might provide protection for colonial insects....

For now I'm calling it absconding, but usually it has a cause, such as too much old comb, too many pests, not well insulated, etc. But the hive robbing would be a curious explanation.. What that...

For kicks, I got some nice shots of the last honey harvest.

http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg184/your_comforting_company/Bee%20pictures/Honey%20Harvest%208-22-12/DSCN7349.jpg

...

I'll be glad to go take pictures of each frame. I saw one old queen cell, but on my last inspection of that hive, they had a queen, lots of brood, and 3 frames of eggs. I thought of the possibility...

Winterized my hives yesterday. There's this phenomena called "Colony Collapse Disorder" and it is as much a mystery now as it was 10 years ago.

Winterizing involves treating for mites before the...

That's just what I call it because it lacks all the stuff that makes honey, "honey".



I might also mention that I've almost reached the "break-even" point. If I stop expanding the apiary, I...

Harvested twice this year, and I'm up to 3 production colonies, with an expected 2 more next year, provided that they overwinter as well as they did last year. Wound up with about 8 gallons of honey...

jcullen, yessir, send me a PM and we'll talk about gettin some out. I don't have a whole bunch left now, though, it's all gone pretty quick!

WR, people keep bees on top of skyscrapers in big...

Money always trumps.
Blueberries around here are actually opened by carpenter and bumble bees, THEN honeybees can get in to get the nectar, so remember the pesky ones are important too!

That's 4 1/2 gallons off off 10 frames, plus 36 4" slices of cut-comb in boxes at a little over a pound apiece. I might make most of my investment back this year! I'll harvest a little more in 3 more...

Harvest Weekend. Enjoy!
http://s248.photobucket.com/albums/gg184/your_comforting_company/Bee%20pictures/6-1-12%20honey%20harvest/

jc24, I've been asked about mead at least 3 times since I put word out that I would have honey available. One guy is already looking for a horn to drink it out of LOL. Maybe in a few years when honey...

@ Crash, It's a two frame that will do any size. I run deeps for brood and mediums for honey

@ Rick, It's refreshing to see someone make a difference on a single-person level. Something very...

On a happier note, My honey is ready, just waiting for bottles and labels to arrive. I got some new equipment that is all my own, so no more borrowing! Pics of the process as we extract due to come....

Made a run down to my supplier to get my bottling tank and seive, and talked to him about the swarming. Some other old guys were there and they all agreed that swarming is not our responsibility, to...

A quick talk about swarm prevention: We, as beekeepers, have a responsibility to the public and to the bees and the industry as a whole, to keep the reputation of the hobby/career in good standing...

If you touch the wire basket in there, it will burn your fingers. I'd imagine you could cook bread with it. It caramelizes any honey left in the comb as it melts. It's built on 16 degrees, which is...

It has been a lot of fun. I've met some really old-school guys who don't mind sharing what they know (and one in particular who is very reserved...).

I have left out a great deal of...