Episode-268- Mason Bee and Raspberry Update

I have been promoting the mason bees a lot lately and for good reasona. The first is educational. I have been able to teach some people who previoulsy knew little or nothing about mason bees enough to consider raising some on their own. I have already been mailing out packages of mason bees, homes, reeds, attractant and guides. Even had a new friend stop by the other day becasue I am giving the...

Episode-259 – Feeding Top Bar Beehive

What a good time for me today as I checked in on the top bar hive.  That's colony D and the survivor of 5 hives in 5 years. Not good odds but a chance for survival is underway. This video shows the top bar hive cluster and it was time to top them up. I was concerned they don't have enough honey so I mixed up some sugar and Honey B Healthy and a pinch of pink salt. The benefits of this type of...

October

Ughhh!!! September came and went already and I haven't posted since August 20th. Wow! Just goes to show the food forest and the rest of life are keeping me that busy. Taking care of the honey bees this year is the easiest and I love the top bar management system over the Langstroth. Not a lot of muss or fuss and the bees look strong as they prep for the coming winter. There's two gallons of...

Episode-251- Time For Top Bar Beehive Update

I have been showing a lot of the fruit, flowers and vegetables growing around the property permaculture style but I need to emphasize at times the animals that all play a part of the systems I have built. Featured in this episode is honey bee colony D from June 2014. This hive began in April 2013 and seems to be doing well. The present colony is possibly the result of a new queen and young bees...

Episode-244- How To Inspect The Top Bar Hives

The video in today's episode is a month old already but I get to things eventually. I am taking a less invasive approach to beekeeping this year. There has been too much to prepare in the gardens that I have not had to the time or energy to over manage the hoeny bees which I think is a good thing. Over managing in the past has led to more problems than successes so I am not repeating past...

Episode-240- Installing Bees The Fun And Easy Way

Here is part 2 of the latest honey bee installation. This one in a top bar hive. Using a top bar hive as the home for this fifth colony of honey bees I am anticipating a yard full of animals. Hive 4 is going strong and I must heed any signs of swarming but for the time being all is good. That means there's room for bees and this package of Russian honey bees from KelleyBees.com has made it's way...