100% Local Ohio | Your Cincinnati Bee Connection
Posted in Beekeeping Philosophy on Jun 18th, 2010
So. Yesterday I received news that Deb’s Uncle Doyle in Waco, Kentucky has collected tons of honey this year. Over the years he’s kept many hives, but now that he’s older he keeps only one—simply because he loves it…the heat in all that protective clothing keeps him from expanding his little operation again. Anyway, I [...]
Posted in Beekeeping Philosophy on Jun 17th, 2010
You know, I’ve been thinking. I think I’d better stick with beekeepers who share my newly emerging philosophy of natural beekeeping: chemical-free hives, foundationless frames, small-cell comb, etc. Then again, if I don’t work with beekeepers who subscribe to other philosophies, how can I hope to spread what I’m learning about natural beekeeping? I don’t want [...]
Posted in Beekeeping Philosophy on Jan 6th, 2010
So, yesterday I slogged up to the two snow-dusted hives with my one-and-only entrance reducer. And then I stood there. One entrance reducer and two hives poses one of those philosophical moments: To which hive do I choose to give the advantage of warmth? The hive we call the “swarm hive” is the stronger of [...]
Posted in Beekeeping Philosophy on Jan 5th, 2010
It is soooo cold, and I am soooo worried about the bees. It’s so cold that the 2 liters of Coke we lazily left on the deck EXPLODED last night. See? I am just too lazy to be a good beekeeper. Those girls put me to shame. Sometimes I wonder if my newly forming beekeeping [...]
Posted in Hive Management on Jan 1st, 2010
The bees’ primary biological drive is to swarm. I read it this morning in Bee Culture magazine, and the moment I read it, it seemed right. Reader, if you’re new to bees, you’ll want to learn that when bees get too crowded in a hive, they raise a second queen. Once the new queen is [...]