#bee care

[i-am-done-hiding13]

Do you do stuff to help the bees out or are they mostly autonomous?

We help them out! We give them pollen paddies during fall to stimulate brood (baby bees) production, we give them sugar inside the hive during winter in case of a honey shortage, and provide them with sugar water during fall, summer, and spring to aid in honey production. In winter to we take off the honey super (the section of the hive where honey is stored) so that the hive is easier for them to keep warm. We check the hives regularly during warmer months to ensure that there are no pests and that egg and honey production are going smoothly, and if there are mites we treat for them. The hives themselves are placed strategically on campus to optimize sunlight exposure and pollination access while remaining separate from the bustle of the main campus! We try our best to keep our bees happy!! 🐝💕

[sallyjadlow]

Will They Make It?

This year has been extremely cold for long periods of time. We wrapped the bee hives in blankets as well as using special lids with protective foam. My son and I checked on the hives the other day and put our ears to the lids. On hive #3 we heard nothing. In hives #1 and #2 we heard a low buzz. In winter the bees cluster together over their honey stores. They quiver to keep a constant 95 degrees…

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[treesbeesandleaves]

HOW TO CATCH A SWARM OF HONEY BEES

My bee-wrangling journey began very simply, with a call to a bee supply company in a neighboring town. I was looking for a swarm to purchase; the woman I spoke with informed me that they were out of swarms (I called in June, too late in the season), but that she could put me on their "swarm list" if I wanted. (A "swarm list" is a list of people who volunteer to remove bee swarms that show up in people’s yards.) I had no experience with swarms whatsoever--I’ve never even seen one in person--but I had a friend who had told me about catching swarms and who I knew I could call for advice, and, well, I just couldn’t pass up being put on a "swarm list." Since this company was not that close to where I lived, the woman suggested I also contact a local pest control company, which, she said, usually keep swarm lists as well. (The people who find the swarms usually call either bee supply companies or pest control companies to take care of them, and these companies then pass on the name of the first person on their swarm list. It seems it is illegal to kill bee swarms, so the pest control people don’t want to deal with them--they’re more set up to kill cockroaches than to save bees--and happily pass on the responsibility to beekeepers looking for more bees). I made the call to the local pest control company and, sure enough, the guy kept a swarm list and, boy, it was too bad I didn’t call last week, because there had been a swarm right in my area. He was happy to put me on the list.....

[alzabar]

These were the only photos on my phone that work with the selflessselfies. (I wish I had more with flower crowns 😭) but save the bees 🐝 I'm still not sure if we wanna get bees this summer. Anyone have bee care insight?

[mspbandj]

I set up my Bee Watering Station! :D

All I did was get a small bag of river stones, a small, shallow terracotta water dish (the type you put under pot plants to catch the drainage,) put the rocks in the dish and filled it with sugar water just enough to half cover the stones :) its sitting in my garden under the lavender bush!!

Yay Bees!

[ub-sessed]

[johnzillaaaa]

As a follow up to the bee thing I just reblogged, here's an often overlooked part of caring for bees: WATER!

Bees need water like everything else does and you need to make sure you have a watering station that is safe for the bees. This video is FANTASTIC for showing how to do that and you can just see how happy the bees are, how much they love this little bee-bath.