Honeybee Blog

Buckfest, A Journey to Canada Ch. 1

Sat, 12 Jun 2010 19:35:00 -0400

It comes with the essence of the breed perhaps. The Buckfest bee was created by Brother Adam through many long travels. So, it is very fitting that we prepare for a long trip ourselves to obtain them. This spring we were informed they no longer intended to ship bees across the border. We must now travel to pick them up and bring them across ourselves.

This week we took our first step, beyond phone inquiries. It all starts with applying for our passports. It’s one of those things that you know you should get but always put off to the last possible moment. This week we submitted our applications, documentation, photos, and fees. Now we wait, and wait some more.

Colloidal Silver

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 18:13:00 -0400

Colloidal Silver is silver suspended in a solution, normally water. It's made by grinding or electrolysis.

Silver is a metal that has been used in medical instruments for a long time. It is easily cleaned.

Many believe it to have anti bacterial, fungus, and viral properties.

However, no scientific research has shown it to help medically when ingested or injected. So, it falls in the realm of snake oil.

I've heard of beekeepers spraying their equipment with colloidal silver. Please don't. Don't jump off any bridges because they guy next to you says its a good idea.

I will wait for some universities to work out what and how it can be used to help.

Top Bar Hives

Tue, 25 May 2010 01:47:00 -0400

Not that I want to support the anarchy and crazy out of standard hive systems.

But for all you 'Top Bar' beekeepers...

Top bar hives are really the short name for the Kenya Top Bar Hive.

They are hives that are built front to back with comb facing perpendicular to the enterance. The hive does not have frames with 4 wood sides. They still have the one side of the 4, the top bar. So yes, both the standard commercial hive and 'top bar' have top bars. However, most top bar hives don't actually have a bar. (poor Norm and Homer) The 'top bar' is made most times of wood slates, when lined up they form a solid inner roof from which combs hang. A similar system was used throughout Europe, but later improvements caused 'top bar's to be less common. They are still found in areas of the world where industry is limited and finding a good mill work facility is rare.

These smaller hives are often large enough for the Africanized bee (A. m . scutellata), as the Africanized bee tend to keep smaller hives. They do so to not leave as much resources behind when they swarm. The African deserts have areas of rain fall that move around. The desert flowers come forth when this rain falls. Thus the African honey bees have adapted to migrating following the weather.

The latest idea with top bars is to hang them from trees. Fire ants, elephants and other problems exist throughout Africa that are limited by these bee tree houses. The ropes are treated with oils to block ants.

Website Updated - Drop Downs

Sat, 15 May 2010 00:31:00 -0400

New drop down menu's from the navigation bar.

Queen Marking Time

Wed, 12 May 2010 22:57:00 -0400

A new batch of Cordovans means its time to mark some queens. Here's some pictures from today:

The Equipment-

Captured Queen

Queen to the top

Queen marked riding the foam down to the bottom

Queen re-introduced

Skin Creme (Cream) now in the store

Thu, 06 May 2010 21:51:00 -0400

Web store now has skin cream in the bath product section.

Boy, are my hands soft today.

A castle for a queen

Mon, 03 May 2010 16:42:00 -0400

What's a queen without her Castle?

So I've assembled my two new Queen Castles. Now if I could make a cool outer cover...

Member Login w/ Facebook

Wed, 28 Apr 2010 21:20:00 -0400

So,

Members can now hopefully log in with their facebook accounts. We'll see if the new application works... ha ha.

New Store Front

Wed, 28 Apr 2010 20:51:00 -0400

So, I've finally finished it. The new store front is here. I was going to wait till I got the new stock of containers in, but... its close enough.

So, now each product group has its own page. Hopefully everyone enjoys the format and finds it easy to use. I've gone through the coding on each of the google cart buttons many, many times. Hopefully all the bugs are worked out.

It still has the same site address as the front page for anyone who has linked to it. Have you not made it one of your favorites yet?

Still a few more pictures to upload, but here it is!

Raw Honey, Organic Honey, Chemical Free...

Fri, 09 Apr 2010 21:26:00 -0400

Revisiting the distiction of Organic Honey.

If a goverment certifies its country's honey as Organic, the USDA allows it to show the label USDA Organic when sold in the US.

Do they follow the exact same rules for certification, NO.

The honey produced in NJ will never be organic because the government officials of NJ want the hives to be atleast 4 miles from: sewar plants, golf courses, industrial facilities, homes that could use chemicals on lawns or gardens. This leaves that them must be in the center of only organic farm land 4 miles in every direction. Such a location does not exist.

So when you buy Organic honey, you are:

helping our government support other countries, instead of our neighborhood beekeepers

helping the government perpetuate the organic lie

why would other governments certify they're honey as organic with less strick control? - it makes their exports worth more

How do you know what some beekeeper does to his hives 3000 miles away?

Raw honey - only means it was not pasturized to keep it from crystalizing

Chemical Free Hives - are what we sell our honey from, we do not use any chemicals or antibiotics in our hives.

People and their ways

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 14:25:00 -0400

It's so intense right now!!! :mad:

For months customers ordering bees have demanded, complained, nagged, gripped, etc. that they want, nay, need their bees earlier.

So the day comes when I'm setting up my first pickups (going as early as I can to meed the demands of my customers), and what do you expect happens? More than 50% of the people say, "Can you hold them for a few weeks?" "I'm not ready." Or, "My equipment is on its way".

So if you're wondering why we require payment in full... this is your answer.

So if your wondering why we don't give refunds... this is your answer.

What would you like me to do with the bees while you get off the couch and get ready for them?

Where should I keep them while you look for your paint brush?

May I ask, what kind of home the bees I've raised are going to if you ordered them a few months ago, and still have not got their hive built, and won't for several more weeks?

We've had above 50+ deg. weather for 3 weeks now, when did you think would be a good time to get ready for your bees?

Thank you for minding the woe of a breeder.

Beekeeping (Online) Journals

Sun, 28 Mar 2010 20:22:00 -0400

Keeping good records is very helpful and good beekeeping practice. Many beekeepers like keeping things on computer. Here are two web applications:

First, a new ap. called Beetight. This application allows you to track hives, yards and other things. It's still new, and updates keep coming, but I think its worth checking out. As its new, its developer is taking suggestions for improvment. A mobile version is availible, good with iphone and droid. Free use for up to 6 hives, $15/yr for full version up to 1000 hives. Click the image to go to Beetight.

Another similar hive tracking site is MyBeeHives.com

It's a site that started in 2003. I haven't seen any major updates in some time, so if its not what you like, its probably not going to change. It has a forum for discusion and issues. Click the image to go to MyBeeHives.