#better beekeeping

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The Cornerstone of Saving the Bees: Local Beekeepers and their Supporters.

The Cornerstone of Saving the Bees: Local Beekeepers and their Supporters.

Wouldn’t it be sweet if the phrase, ‘Save the Bees,’ soon changed to ‘Saved the Bees?’ Imagine if every town, village, and city had enough beekeepers who were keeping beehives using natural practices. What would that look like? For starters, I can picture more trees, bushes, flowers, and herb gardens specifically planted to support honey bees and all pollinators.

This was my very first…

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Weeds are Wildflowers, let them Bee. Part 2

Weeds are Wildflowers, let them Bee. Part 2

There are several sounds that a beekeeper loves to hear and one that they do not. The sound that beekeepers do not like to hear is the busy buzzing of honey bee wings telling the beekeeper, ‘Goodbye, alas we shall see you no more.” That’s right, it’s the sound of a swarm. Fortunately, today we are talking about the sounds that beekeepers dolike, which is when the blossoms are buzzing happily with…

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Weeds are Wildflowers, let them Bee. Part 1

Weeds are Wildflowers, let them Bee. Part 1

Most people do not realize the abundant variety of wildflowers that honey bees will forage from. Many of these wildflowers are something that most would consider to be ‘weeds.’ In my opinion, a ‘weed’ is just a flower that you haven’t met yet. And whether it has a name or not, honey bees don’t care; they like it anyways.

Honey bee foraging on Jewelweed. Photo by Jonathan Hargus

This…

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Get the Best bear fence for your beehives.

Get the Best bear fence for your beehives.

One day we got a phone call. Our apiary furthest to the south had some beehives knocked over on the ground. The property owner noticed this three days ago before finally calling us. He told us our hives had been ‘blown’ over. Fearing the worst, we set out on the one hour drive. Pulling into the cow pasture surrounded by orange groves, we could see the disaster from afar and as we got closer we…

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Queens with benefits: running your own Mating nucs.

Queens with benefits: running your own Mating nucs.

Have you ever accidentally squashed or damaged one of your queens? Perhaps you were being a bit rough while pulling frames out from the brood nest or maybe she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Either way, it sucks. Once the hive knows that they’re queenless, it will take another 10-12 days for them to get another one. Then possibly up to another week of mating flightsbefore she…

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The 3 Don'ts of Beekeepery

The 3 Don’ts of Beekeepery

I have a beekeeping buddy with slightly different ideas than I do about hive management. But that pretty much describes every beekeeper doesn’t it? There’s a humorous but accurate phrase that goes something like this, “If you ask 10 beekeepers the same question you’ll get 11 different answers.” Too true, but that’s what makes beekeeping unique, eh?

My new apiary is located very close to my…

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Mystery honey crop: Have you ever heard of Millet Honeydew?

Mystery honey crop: Have you ever heard of Millet Honeydew?

So I live in the North Central Georgia Mountains just inside of Union County. One of the most unique varieties of honey in the U.S. is made here: Sourwood Honey. If you have ever tried it, you know exactly what I’m talking about. This honey is so popular that you rarely see it for sale outside of our tri-state area, the demand is as high as its price tag. People drive from nearby states just to…

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