Mountain Forest Honey: April 2016

Thursday, April 14, 2016

Spring time is Swarm time

When you think of a swarm do you normally think of YIKES IT'S A SWARM! ?? Most people do but did you know that when a colony of honey bees swarm they are at their calmest? Yes the bees do fly eradically out and away from the hive but then they

Do you see the swarm?

How about now?

Does this help?

"ball-up" into a cluster of bees to protect the queen they are focused and quite calm. This new colony can move around several times in search of a new home until they find the right one. They cluster to protect the queen, feed her and keep her warm. It is their job until their sister scout bees have secured the new permanent location. If you happened to discover a cluster of swarmed honey bees, CALL A BEEKEEPER FIRST and quickly. A company that controls pests more than likely will destroy the bees. We need the bees, because without the bees we do not have pollination and without pollination we do not have fruits and vegetables and without those things, well, you get the picture. SAVE THE BEES!

Beekeeper

The journey home.

Time-out....let's go to class.

Recently, I helped to organize an event where guest speaker Michael Bush, author and world re-nown beekeeper talked about the Natural Cell Method of beekeeping. The Shelby County Beekeepers together with The University of Montevallo invited him to speak and sign his books for this one day event. Before this event, I had never heard of the natural cell method of beekeeping but learned that the bees have been using it since the beginning of time! The natural cell method of beekeeping means that the bees creature a smaller regular 'natural' size cell for their brood in the wild. When we keep bees and use a foundation in the frame, it is larger than what the bees naturally create in the wild, therefore we get a bigger bee, a bigger cell and supposedly more opportunity for varroa mites to make the bees their home. With the natural cell method, in theory, this goes away, making the smaller bee, smaller cell more effecient, more productive and less app to house the destructive varroa. Time will only tell if this method of beekeeping actually is beneficial for the beekeeper. The bees know, if only we could ask them!

SCBA organizers with Michael Bush

Dr. Susan Kaplow, UOM and Michael Bush, Author/speaker

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Late Winter to Early Spring- How to recognize the strength of your hive.

It's important to know what a strong hive is too look like in Central Alabama if you have managed to keep your bees alive for one year going into the 2nd year. If you open your hive and you have 3-4 frames of bees and/or a good amount of bees covering the bottom frames then you know you have managed your hive well over the winter. Of course, it is really up to the bees but you have the satisfaction of knowing you helped them in some way. ( :

Examining your hive frames.

Be sure to check the slow progress of your hives late winter to early spring but only if the days temperature is above 50 degrees. When you go into them, you look at a few frames for the presence of a laying queen. The tell-tell sign is the unique looking 1-3 days old eggs. If you do not see this then there MIGHT BE a chance she is not present. Your quest now is to locate her among thousands of her sisters that look just like her.

It's finally April-Time for Spring Splits!

As a beekeeper, you think about making hive splits the entire year of when you are going to split your hives to increase the size of your bee yard(apiary). The first year it's 2, then 4, then maybe 8. You really just do not know from year to year how many colonies you will loose and how many will survive. Plus, the success of splitting one hive to make 2 or more or even if you are lucky enough to catch a wayward swarm.