Five days after I hived the swarm from the wall I checked it. I placed it about three km from the wall where it originated, to help form the ”stock of the region”. It wasn’t a very big swarm, but
The queen of the wall
The best cell starter
The modified Snelgrove board by Pasaga Ramic is an excellent starter board. http://www.elgon.es/diary/?p=167 Where you usually have the broodnest box(-es) – on the bottom board – you place a queenless box with bees, with or without a couple of brood
First Queen
Beware ye old men, the day have come when women run faster. Like in the old days of the survival of farmers, when the women were the beekeepers. Well, anyway my niece (I treat her mother as my sister though
Taking home the breeder
A week ago I brought home the breeder queens for ease of grafting. They should at least have been treatment free last year (2013) and they should not have been a new colony 2013. The queen should be at least
Producing varroa resistant bees from a local population
Erickson and Hines in test apiary 2003 Dr Eric Erickson did a great job in the 1990’s in Arizona together with A.H. Atmowidjojo and Lenard Hines (commercial beekeeper with 700 colonies), first showing it’s relatively easy to identify more resistant
Salix is valuable
Salix has many species around the world that are important for our pollinators in spring. Rich in nectar and valuable pollen. Willow trees have done most of their job for this year. They are not only loved by bees.
Tussilago farfara
Second day checking for increase after winter I now came to some apiaries inside my Elgon area and almost all colonies needed a super above the excluder. The weather had turned warm after winter and the colonies demanded me to
Colony 47
Colony 47 is a remarkable colony. It started as a walkaway split last year. From colony 236. It is placed in apiary 4 as colony no 7. The split was moved from apiary 23 to apiary 4. When I checked
Clover, fertilizers and bees
In Wanganui Chronicles in New Zealand April 14 there’s an article by Rachel Rose titled Bees play vital role in food chain. In New Zealand they know bees are important for dairy and meat production. Yes, for dairy and for
Spring after winter in Indiana
Larry from Indiana wrote me March 30 about spring approaching at his side of the globe on about 39° latitude: Mother Nature continues to exact her winter revenge in the Midwest USA. Once again rain mixed with snow dominates the