Garden Geekery

Another casualty of 2016: my remaining two hives. I went out to check on them last week, and both were dead. The Vulcan hive was completely empty of bees. My first thought was colony collapse or that they’d absconded, but…

I installed a new package and a new nuc within the last week. I have GoPro video of both, so you can see the different techniques. Both are fairly quick and straightforward. As a refresher: A package is a bunch…

So I’ve been putting off writing this for a while, because I’m so upset with myself for letting it happen. But mistakes are how you learn, and this could help someone else or help me remember for next time. I…

I don’t really have a lot of time at the moment, but I just had to write this post. (Have to let my heart rate come back down, anyway.) I’m extracting a bunch more honey this weekend, and I just…

First step in honey harvesting: Getting the bees out of the honey supers. After last year’s fiasco with the Porter bee escape, I thought I’d try something different this time around. I went for the fumigation method, as it was…

Varroa mites are the bane of honeybees’ existence. They’ve become a huge problem of late, contributing to spread of disease, weakening of colonies, and death of colonies. They’re nasty little buggers, looking like ticks on the bees. Gross. To keep…

So I decided I wanted more bees. Rather than buying more this time, I figured I’d try splitting my existing hives and making a third, since those two made it through the winter and are both doing fine. In short,…

Bee season is upon us! Quick update on the bee yard: I’d started out with some old wood laminate pieces beneath the hives to keep the weeds down and provide a “stable” surface. Turned out they were really slippery when…