Beekeepers Blog

In this video, we discuss:

-Maintaining bees through the summer

-August management

-Finding queens

-Requeening

This is frustrating, but fairly common. You introduced a queen to your hive properly, following all the steps in “How to requeen”, but she wasn’t accepted. If this happens to you, here is what to do:  Read “How to tell...

Also read:  How often should I requeen my hive?  How to tell if my hive is queenless  Requeening a hive with an existing hive is relatively simple. Deciding if they need to be requeened and finding the queen is a bit more...

Queens are readily available for purchase April-September. Thus, it is best to plan to requeen during those months. Hives most readily accept new queens when there is a natural honey and pollen flow, or you are feeding the hive. So,...

 There are a variety of ways to tell if your hive has lost its queen, and at some point, all hives do eventually lose their queen. At times they requeen themselves and we never know it, (which isn’t ideal, see...

This topic is often debated, and a frequently asked question. As usual with debated topics, this issue has pros and cons on both sides. I want to share my opinion based on my experience, then outline the pros and cons...

Drone layers are extremely annoying. Not only are they a waste of a good hive, but they are very difficult to fix. Right off the bat, I want to communicate that even with hard work, and trying multiple methods, I’ve...

First, does your hive have eggs or larva but no capped brood? If that’s the case, the hive amost likely has a newly installed, or reared queen, and the new queen is just getting started laying. If your hive has...

If you have a laying queen in your hive, verified by seeing her, or you are seeing plenty of healthy eggs, larva & brood, and you are seeing queen cells, there are a few things you need to do.Read “Queen...

Also read: Queen Cells vs Queen Cups  If you read most beekeeping books, they explain that swarm cells (queens being raised in preparation for half the bees & the old queen to swarm away) and supersedure cells (queens being raised...

Whether you are getting a new queen to replace a failing one, or to split a hive, it’s exciting! Keep in mind that most queen suppliers begin accepting orders January 1st of each year. If you are planning to requeen...

Also read: Swarm cells vs supersedure cells A queen cell is simply a cell in which a queen is actively being raised. A queen cup, or emergency queen cup as they are often called, is an empty queen cup that...

Also read: What does a good vs bad brood pattern look like?  A poor brood pattern can be caused by many things. Below I’ve outlined the common causes, and how to fix them: A failing queen- As queens age, they...

First, make sure you are able to spot eggs and larva. See “Tips for spotting eggs & larva”. If you are confident there are no eggs, larva, or capped brood, then you almost certainly have a queenless hive. The most...

A good brood pattern doesn’t mean a whole hive, or queen, is in good health. But, it’s one of the  indicators that the brood is overall healthy, and at the moment, so is the queen. If you are new to...