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teeny tiny hive
Here you see the hands of Ken, adjusting the frames of his little model beehive. The wee box is resting on the much larger, normal-sized beehive. Ken is going to leave the small box on the larger box – there’s an opening in the bottom so the bees can come up into it – so the bees will draw out the honeycomb a bit. He doesn’t want them to store honey in the little demo hive, but he does want them to show what they can do in building up the wax in preparation for honey storage. He brings this hive to places where he talks about bees, so people…
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workshop review
. I was pleasantly surprised to discover recently that one of the people who attended my intro to honeybees and beekeeping workshops wrote a little review on her blog! Thanks Bianca! Inspired Wonder‘s honeybee workshop review. These workshops were geared toward families, so they were not highly technical nor were they designed to tell you everything you need to know to be a beekeeper. I’m more about raising awareness of honeybees and hoping to share the love. I also want people to know the difference between a bee and a wasp. When someone tells me they were harassed or stung by a bee I always ask, ‘was it a bee or…
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out of place
. Yesterday I showed some photos of honeycomb that was built perpendicular to the wooden frames. Today, I’m showing you the other half of the honey super – not quite so perpendicular, but still curvy enough that the frames can’t be put into a honey extractor. If you look closely on the left-hand side you can see the wires of the frame. These are supposed to be buried deep in the wax of the honeycomb, and provide support when the frames are spun in the extractor. Not working so well here. Hence the big mashing and straining ordeal. It’s been a sticky couple of days so far – I wash…
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bee lifeguard
I was filling my backyard pool today (thanks Bianca!) and decided to do a bit of skimming. I guess this gal was thirsty - or maybe got too hot? - she showed up on the skimmer. Then I started noticing that there was more than one bee in the pool.... hmmm....
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bee escape
Setting up the bee escape and waiting for a few days allows the beekeeper to come back and take the box of honey without having to shake out the bees and piss them off. Or use a bee brush on the frames, which I can't do anyway since the comb is not actually in the individual frames. It's kind of meandering through the honey super. So I need a bee escape. And I need to go check it soon, since it's been on there for a bit. Here's a pic of the escape:
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a taste of honey
I've filtered my first half-cup of honey through this old food mill that belonged to my Grandma - see the honeycomb in the cone - and now I just want to look at it! I've tasted it, but that's all. It's a very light yellow - here's the comparison to Ken's:
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uncaged
. She’s out!! I set up the ob hive today so friends could have a look at the bees, and I noticed that the queen is out of her cage. Didn’t take long – everybody loves candy. She’s the one with the white dot in the picture. Hooray! Now we’ll have eggs and larvae to watch too. .
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she’s here!
I received a phone call this morning from a lady at Canada Post - they had a buzzing package for me. The queen bee and her attendants have arrived already! I was very thankful she decided to call me to pick it up, rather than sent it out with a letter carrier. It's been so hot, and she was worried that the bees might overheat, as was I. Not worried anymore, I've got my queen! Let's take a look:
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hornets and honeybees
I don't think I've ever seen such beautiful hornets - a deep metallic blue, so shimmery and sleek. Very sexy insects. Unfortunately they're all over my sister's garden, so they will have to be taken care of at some point. My two little nephews don't need to be stung by these gorgeous pollinators! Here you see them on the parsley flowers, doing their part to ensure that my brother-in-law has viable parsley seeds for next year's crop.
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update
. I heard from the person who had the bees in the wall of the house – they had to call an exterminator because there was really no easy way to get the bees out. Which I am not holding against them. You gotta do what you gotta do. It really doesn’t make sense to tear up your house over this. This person is also allergic to bee stings, which makes it all the more important that the bees are gone quickly. .