SB is a relatively new and dedicated beekeeper in southern Germany. She is interested in different kinds of bees and their place in the ecological system. I asked her to tell her story and her struggles helping her bees to
In the search for breeders for this season I tested a number of hives for the infestation level of Varroa mites in the beginning of May. Those choosen had not been treated for mites either not at all last season,
Magnus was a beekeeper in his youth in western Sweden. He quit in 1996 but started again in 2013 with his wife Ulrika. Then they bought from an older beekeepers a pavilion with seven bee colonies, most of which were
Hans-Otto Johnsen was very skilled already in his youth keeping old American cars and trucks going. That skill can be very handy for a commercial beekeeper. For many years he worked as an expert on explosives, but he got
How do you clean plastic combs and reuse them? Wooden frames you melt the wax from and boil. Try to do that with plastic combs and they woun’t fit in the box or anywhere else. After scraping the sides of
Water soaked up in old pieces of branches is tasting yum yum. Yesterday March 20 in the middle of the day when the sun warmed the ground and the air, 8°C (47°F) in the shade. The first day of the
Picture 1. A good colony that has cleansed somewhat after winter. Yesterday and today I checked 140 colonies of mine. I couldn’t reach one apiary with 6 colonies due to muddy roads. It was freezing in the morning but 50°F
Karin is a new beekeeper. She got a split from me with a daughter of the swarm that came from the wall of one of her houses, an unheated older, kind of summerhouse. http://www.elgon.es/diary/?p=515 At the end of last summer,
Cory Stevens lives in southeast Missouri. There are some hives of hobbyists some miles from him. A larger beekeeper is 7-8 miles from him, but he uses Cory Stevens’ queen cells. The whole Stevens family works together Started with resistance
Darrel Jones lives in a rural area in northern Alabama. He is an enthusiastic grower of heirloom tomatoes, http://www.selectedplants.com/ Being a beekeeper as well is a natural fit with his gardening activities. Keeping bees treatment free was his goal from