Right Now
Everyone wonders what they can be doing for their bees at this time of the year. It’s colder than normal and for many we’re looking at rain and snow. Depending on your experience there are many options of things you can be doing for your bees. If you don’t...
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Beekeeping: Inner Cover
If you’re new to beekeeping you might be wondering what all this stuff is that you’re getting for your hive and why you need it. What is this inner cover and why do you even need it? Depending on the type of outer cover you have, you might not...
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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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From the Beekeeping Meeting: Tracheal Mites
Sadly mites tend to be one of the more common issues affecting honey bees. Be it varroa or tracheal mites, both little bothers can cause seriously issues for your honey bee hives. So what are tracheal mites, how can you tell if you have them and what do you...
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From the Beekeeping Meeting: How Bees Decide Part 2
This is a continuation of THIS post. MAPS! The waggle dance isn’t the only way honey bees find resources. This is a new understanding for scientists (in the last 30 years or so). Part of the equation is that honey bees have a better understanding of flowers than any...
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From the Beekeeping Meeting: How Bees Decide
Most of us have heard about the honey bee waggle dance and that honey bees communicate. While this is absolutely true, there’s a whole lot more going on than just this waggle dance. For bees to be successful they have to find food efficiently and effectively over a 5...
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From the Beekeeping Meeting: European Foulbrood
Yet another disease? Yes, sadly just like humans there’s a number of things that can affect your bees. But just like other diseases this one is usually only a problem in a weak hive. So what is European Foulbrood and how do you deal with it? The Basics European...
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From the Beekeeping Meeting: Nosema
As beekeepers there are a number of diseases and pests for us to worry about. Some of these things are present in our hives all the time and simply raise their ugly heads when the bees are stressed in one way or another. Nosema is one such disease. Here’s...
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From the Beekeeping Meeting: American Foulbrood
As I mentioned in the last blog post the last meeting of Puget Sound Beekeepers was especially informative. Over the next few blog posts I’ll be going over some of the nasty diseases and pests we talked about so you can familiarize yourself with these yucky things and in...
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