Tag: honey bees

Episode-145- Bees Are Important And Now You Know Why

Tony Teolis January 8, 2013 0 Comments
This is a short video to give a little further explanation about the roots of my honey bee journey and why i am continuing with it. The desire to raise honey bees is stronger than all of the problems I know that can harm honey bees. I believe I can attribute the death of honeybee colony A to Anthropomorphism. That is still awaiting confirmation from the USDA but I now owe a debt to their memory...

Episode-144- Build A Top Bar Hive Part 2

Tony Teolis January 6, 2013 2 Comments
I have completed my first top bar hive and this build cost less than $100 and took a week of evenings to complete. Not bad for an amateur woodworker. The Makita Magnesium hypoid circular saw made it easy as it did for the kiwi arbor I built in November. All that is left to do is to add the bottom screen when it arrives. i could not find any 2.5mm - 3.5mm wire mesh locally but I did find some...

Test For American Foulbrood

Tony Teolis January 6, 2013 0 Comments
Dead Bee hive 12-28-12 I have to test to see how honey bee colony A died. Look at the past few posts and you will learn how I have reacted to the colony dying. The ropey test, smell test and Holts milk test for American Foulbrood were all negative. To be sure I sent larvae and adult honey bee samples away to the USDA in Beltsville, MD. At the same time I sent away for two American foulbrood...

Episode-143- Build A Top Bar Hive – Part 2

Tony Teolis January 2, 2013 0 Comments
During my break from being int he office I had come up with several activities to keep me busy. Well I didn't get around to most of them as my family has kept me busy. But one plan that was not going to be interfered with was building 2 top bar hives (Kenya style). At the time I came up with the plan to build this style hive I still had two strong honey bee hives in Langstroth hives and as you...

Use Honey From A Dead Hive

Tony Teolis December 31, 2012 0 Comments
It's an awful feeling and I was barely able to sleep through the night but I've worked through many other problems and I'll work through this one too. I installed Hive A in April of 2011 and it is very sad to realize there is no life left in it now. Photos - Most of the dead bees were found on the screened bottom board and some were frozen in place on frames. This hive had 2 deeps and 1 medium...

Death Of Bees Caused By Varroa

Tony Teolis December 28, 2012 0 Comments
Everything was going well this holiday season until today. I went out to confirm my suspicions that something was wrong with Honey Bee Hive A.  I installed Hive A in April of 2011 and it is very sad to realize there is no life left in it now. Photos - http://bit.ly/YUzvgS What bees there are were all on the screened bottom board. This hive had 2 deeps and 1 medium super. The super is full...

Episode-138- Check Varroa Counts Mite Drop In Honey Bee Hive

Tony Teolis December 3, 2012 0 Comments
The Varroa Counts Mite drop count in both hives is extremely low and the survival of the honey bees at least through the winter seems possible. It has been one week since I greased the board and when I went to check today there were only a couple of mites on Hive A's board and none to note for Hive B.  Although I presented some up close up photos and video for Episode-137 there does not seem...

Episode-137- Why Are Honey bees Dying – A Closer Look

Tony Teolis November 26, 2012 0 Comments
Today's video is another depiction of what honey bees experience on the throes of death. the way I have the bees set up in the gazebo allows for a view of dead and dying bees. This is unique in that many beekeepers do not have a means to easily see dead and dying bees displaced from their hives. The pictures above show a varroa mite from hive B and a hive beetle from hive A. Small hive beetles...