Dewey Caron

Knowing your bees is part of having a successful and satisfying beekeeping experience. Is this the season to do something about improving colony records? Or will you continue to use the ‘brick’ method? Hivetracks is a better way to keep hive/apiary records. And Hive Tracks is launching a series of improvements to make it even […]

In Salem State Tax Court, Old Sol Apiaries owner John Jacob won one for bees. John had leased the property of LeRoy & Nancy Wehdes’ for an apiary site but Jackson County disallowed the bees as livestock and part of the property as qualifying for bee pasture. Their projected tax bill jumped from $100 to

One of the books I took to Bolivia to catch up on my reading was Bernd Heinrich’s newest The Homing Instinct, his 16th book; I professionally reviewed his Bumble Economics book several years ago. The book was a gift from my beekeeper hosts when I talked to the Maine beekeepers in mid-October. Before leaving Oregon

At September WVBA meeting I discussed feeding and treating as a follow up to Rich’s comments at August meeting on fall preparations. Not all beekeepers want to feed and fewer care to treat. The risk of not doing either is a colony that may not survive winter. If bees are natural and wild animals why

August is not a month for much bee work. It is too hot and colonies can be a bit testy. Keep water nearby and give them some supplemental shade in the afternoon if you are concerned. August however is for mite monitoring –  the month to determine how the bees are doing with keeping a

How much surplus honey have your bees stored this year? Our active storage season is over or about over by this time – the rest of the season bees collect only enough to keep going. Once you harvest your surplus I encourage you to sign up to exhibit your honey in the State Fair honey