Bee Quilts
Many years ago a home that was once owned by a farmer in the city of Seattle was being cleaned out. An entire basement was filled with supplies. Old boxes, some 8 frame some 10, miscellaneous bits and pieces of equipment and that “thing” you see in the picture...
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Brushing the Bees
While the term bee brush may make you think of combing a cat or dog we promise we’re not suggesting that you clean off your bees with a tiny brush. Frankly they’re likely covered in pollen and would prefer to keep it that way and besides, you have better...
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Beekeeping: Electric Uncapping Knife!
There are a number of choices for uncapping honey for extraction. Some will simply use a cappings scratcher. Others choose to use a serrated bread knife and simply “saw” off the cappings. For most who need to process a number of frames the electric uncapping knife is the option...
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Beekeeping: Cappings Scratcher
Most of us at some point will need to use a cappings scratcher. Typically there are two uses for the scratcher: After using a knife to cut off the cappings a scratcher can be used for places the knife missed. This keeps you from having to “dig in” with the knife...
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Beeswax Candles
At some point after processing your honey you’ll realize that you have all this beeswax and you want to do something with it. One of the easiest things to do is make candles. While you can purchase lots of equipment to make candles perfectly you can also make candles...
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Bottling Honey On The Cheap
As with any hobby there is an endless list of things you can purchase to make your life easier and your wallet lighter! But if you’re not rolling in the cash you might want to save a bit of money when beekeeping rather than buying every single thing. Here’s...
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Catching a Swarm Fail
Every once in a while being a lazy beekeeper pays off. On one occasion I caught a swarm of bees in a dead hive simply because I hadn’t gotten around to cleaning out the hive yet and the spring swarm season took care of the issue for me....
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Beekeeping Supers: Comb
We’ve talked about three different types of supers already. Deep Hive bodies which are usually used as the area for brood, aka the place that the queen lays her eggs. Western supers which are smaller and lighter than deep supers and can be used as either honey supers or...
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Beekeeping Supers: Westerns
You won’t need cowboy boots to use this kind of honey super but what the heck is a western super? Many people also call this size super a medium super. Slightly larger than a shallow super and quite a bit smaller than a deep super this box can be...
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Beekeeping Supers: Shallow Honey Supers
Traditionally many people only used two different types of supers, two deep hive bodies for the brood area and shallow honey supers for storing honey. Shallow honey supers are often used because they are easier to lift when full of honey than larger size supers. Unlike a deep super...
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