Beekeeping Experiences

Discussion of beekeeping attempts, failures, and other experiences in this endevor.

Beekeeping Experiences

Bee Stings

Let’s talk about stings ‘secretly”, just so you can maintain your superior masculinity and nobody will ever know that you hate to get stung. Get stung, it makes you more appreciative of your expertise after you learn to work your bees using little or no protective clothing and getting FEW or NO stings! Don’t lose

Beekeeping Experiences

Bee Behavior

In today’s society, we sort of wonder when we see that word “behavior”, because it often indicates some bad action that might require the use of discipline. Frankly, I really prefer the phrase of “THINKING LIKE A BEE”. Now I have introduced a secondary thought was is: Can a bee think? Now there are TWO

Beekeeping Experiences

Anthropomorphic

Don’t you dare skip reading this page! Understanding that word, and then reacting to it, is a MAJOR STEP in the upgrading process from HAVER to KEEPER. OK-What does it mean? An-thro-po-mor-phic means to ascribe or to refer HUMAN characteristics to NON-HUMAN things. This is a very narrow human way of viewing the things in

Marking a Queen
Bee Hive Decisions, Beekeeping Experiences

Why MARK Queens?

George Imirie’s PINK PAGES 1998 Maybe some don’t even know what a “MARKED” queen is, so I better explain that first. You paint the top side of the thorax of the queen bee with honest to goodness fast drying paint that will not wear off in the life span of the queen, nor does the

Beekeeping Experiences

Robbing and Being MAD go together!

George Imirie’s PINK PAGES Back in those “pre-historic” days of 1933 when I started beekeeping, most bees were on farm properties and tended by the farmers of that day. Hence, who was really bothered or even knew about MAD, STINGING BEES when they were under 1-2 acres of orchard trees on a 200 acre farm?

Bee Hive Decisions, Beekeeping Experiences

Retard Swarming By Making A Split

George Imirie’s PINK PAGES Swarming, a beekeeper’s nemesis because of the loss of honey crop, can usually be prevented by “splitting” a colony into two parts. Bee scientists have now well proven that the two major reasons for a swarm are, in order of importance: If you use “splitting” as a swarm retarding technique with

Beekeeping Experiences

Drawing Foundation and Proper Supering

Why do I combine the topics of drawing foundation and proper supering? Unlike humans, honey bees possess the ability to plan ahead and undertake tasks only when necessary. Drawn comb serves two primary functions: providing cells for brood rearing and storing food such as nectar, honey, or pollen. Throughout my writings spanning four decades, I’ve

Feeder in a hive body
Bee Hive Decisions, Beekeeping Experiences

Reversing the Brood Chamber

Regardless of whether you are using two deep bodies or three medium bodies for wintering colonies, in either case, the UPPER half of the colony was all capped honey in November, and the lower area was some brood, some capped honey, and the CLUSTER of bees. As the winter progressed, the cluster slowly moved ALWAYS

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