I make notes. I’m sure you do to. How much is a good question. I made more notes as a beginner and quite some years after that. When I got well above hundred hives I began to question each kind
Changing plans
Container colony kept its promise
A month ago I opened the lid on a pile of boxes with crap combs just enough so the swarm that had landed on the outside could go in and make themselves a new home. They “promised” to clean the
Free bees
This year is a year of swarms in Sweden. The weather is chilly and damp. Bees are sitting a lot inside having little to do but making queen cells. Maybe like many others in such a situation, thinking of reproduction.:)
Let us in – we will clean your combs
Today I got a telephone call from my neighbor when I was out in the car. He told me a swarm was swirling in the air in his garden, then moving over my container for storing bee equipment. When I
Checking list for a VSH test
I have done some VSH-tests by now and maybe my experiences can inspire some of you. I have made a checklist that maybe can be of some help. What I use I use a reading lens with a ringlamp with
More viruses due to cold weather
The weather has given the coldest May since 1962, 12 years before I started with bees. The bees have had a hard time getting enough pollen to keep up egglaying to reach optimum nectar gathering strength when summer comes. In
Varroa feces, larval and pupal skins
I found a good description of what happens in the brood cell here: http://www.ars.usda.gov/Research/docs.ht…44&page=14 There are good pictures of different stages in the development of the bee and of mite reproduction. There I also find the answer to my question and
Varroa defecation and pupa remains
I’m checking my, as I think, most promising colonies for the VSH trait. (http://www.elgon.es/diary/?p=146) After dragging out more than 1000 pupae I have learned a lot about analyzing what I see. But I understand it’s more to learn. And I’m
Blueberry and dandelion
Spring has been chilly, but warms up when sun is shining, it brings out flowers like blueberries and dandelions, some tiny, some beautiful, all giving food and promises of future. I’m fascinated how tiny the blueberry flowers are in
Aiming for a new season
In the beginning of March the bees had their main cleansing flight after winter. In the beginning of April most of them had more combs and boxes given. At the end of April another round checking food, need for thymol,