There was an informative webinar mid-January from Bee Culture Magazine [“The Kim and Jim Show”] that was all about packages. You can still view the one-hour broadcast at Bee Culture webpage www.beeculture.org Look for it filed under events. Kim and Jim discussed only packages but their comments would generally apply to nucs, although with a […]
STARTING PACKAGES/NUCS Read More »
Dead colony forensics – examining a dead colony to help determine what might have been the reason for non-survival. Identifying the problem can guide changes in management leading to improved overwintering success. Last year backyard OR beekeepers lost 43% of their overwintering colonies – there were additional losses during the active year resulting in approximately
Dead Colony Forensics Read More »
Dead colony forensics – examining a dead colony to help determine what might have been the reason for non-survival. Identifying the problem can guide changes in management leading to improved overwintering success. Last year backyard OR beekeepers lost 43% of their overwintering colonies – there were additional losses during the active year resulting in approximately
Dead Colony Forensics Read More »
The Honey Bee Health Coalition has released a series of videos to help beekeepers promote colony health and combat costly and destructive Varroa mite infestations. The videos provide detailed step-by-step instructions on how to monitor hives for Varroa and safely treat when levels get too high. The videos complement the Coalition’s wildly popular Tools for
Improved Tools Guide for mite control Read More »
The Honey Bee Health Coalition has released a series of videos to help beekeepers promote colony health and combat costly and destructive Varroa mite infestations. The videos provide detailed step-by-step instructions on how to monitor hives for Varroa and safely treat when levels get too high. The videos complement the Coalition’s wildly popular Tools for
Improved Tools Guide for mite control Read More »
Proper ventilation is important for bee colonies year round but can be especially critical in the winter. In the PNW, moisture, rather than cold temperatures, is a major contributor to decreased survival. Bees can amazingly well tolerate cold but less so when they are wet. High hive moisture is due to the condensation of water
Winterizing bee hives Read More »
Proper ventilation is important for bee colonies year round but can be especially critical in the winter. In the PNW, moisture, rather than cold temperatures, is a major contributor to decreased survival. Bees can amazingly well tolerate cold but less so when they are wet. High hive moisture is due to the condensation of water
Winterizing bee hives Read More »
Winter? It seems like a long time before we think about winter but in reality it is not so far away IF we plan to do something about mites. NOW (end August/early September) is the proper time to sample colonies to determine risk level and make mite control decisions, if you wish to do so.
Winter (mite) Preparations Read More »
Winter? It seems like a long time before we think about winter but in reality it is not so far away IF we plan to do something about mites. NOW (end August/early September) is the proper time to sample colonies to determine risk level and make mite control decisions, if you wish to do so.
Winter (mite) Preparations Read More »
Bees are really amazing creatures. IF they survive winter, a big IF these days, their spring colony expansion is one of the incredible features of a bee colony. Given pollen, good enough weather to forage and a healthy population, the colony will expand from a cluster the size of a softball to a brood area
Softball to Exercise ball – spring colony expansion Read More »
