Archive for the ‘Natural Beekeeping’ Category
Turnip Flowers Give Bees ‘Pollen Power’
Posted in Bee to Flower relationship, Bee Video, Bee-loving flowers, Natural Beekeeping, Uncategorized, tagged bee-loving flowers, Gardening, honey bees, Warre Hive, Wild pollinators on April 25, 2017| 11 Comments »
Bees on February Flowers
Posted in Bee Video, Bee-loving flowers, Natural Beekeeping, Sustainable living, Warre Hive, tagged bee-loving flowers, beekeeping, bees on Oregon Coast, bumblebees, Canon SX-50, gorse, honey bees, natural beekeeping, Ulex europeaus, Warre Hive, winter protection on February 26, 2017| 13 Comments »
It might not be pretty…
I’ve been somewhat afraid to write about my bees. They seem to be doing fine with my efforts to protect them, but I didn’t want to jinx them. This is the end of February. The Hooker Willow has started flowering and bees are returning with bright yellow pollen, so I think they will make it. Also the gorse (Ulex europeaus) is blooming as it always does in February. The video shows bees on both.
Turnips, a Cover Crop You Can Eat
Posted in Bee to Flower relationship, Bee Video, Bee-loving flowers, Bumblebees, Gardening, Growing flowers for bees, Macro bee video, Natural Beekeeping, Videos, tagged bee-loving flowers, beekeeping, bees on Oregon Coast, Gardening, Gardening tips, honey bees, natural beekeeping, raised beds, turnip soup recipe on October 15, 2016| 5 Comments »
…and the bees love it too.
Turnip soup recipe
Chop an onion, saute in olive oil, add 4 to 5 cups of peeled chopped turnips, two garlic cloves (peeled and cut in half), add two teaspoons of smoked paprika, and teaspoon of thyme leaves. Cook until lightly brown, add three cups of vegetable or chicken broth, salt to taste. Bring to boil and simmer until veggies are cooked. Blend in blender, return to pan, add a cup of milk, or milk alternative.
Masons in the Meadowfoam
Posted in Bee to Flower relationship, Bee-loving flowers, Gardening, Natural Beekeeping, Videos, tagged German Wasp, Mason bee nesting blocks, mason bees, natural beekeeping, nature photography, pollinators, Potter wasp, Vespula Germanica, Wild pollinators on June 9, 2016| 21 Comments »
Garden in May
Posted in Bee to Flower relationship, Bee Video, Bee-loving flowers, Macro bee video, Music video, Natural Beekeeping, Raised beds, Tower of Jewels, Videos, tagged bee-loving flowers, Bees on echium, bees on Oregon Coast, bees pollinating turnip flowers, bombus melanopygus, Bombus vosnesenskii, echium pininana, Flor Braier, Foxgloves, Greenworks garden cultivator, Lobelia fistulosa, natural beekeeping, organic gardening, Pony Feelings, Wild pollinators, Yellow-faced Bumble Bee on May 10, 2016| 13 Comments »
I love the May garden. Everything is so lush and and green.
Bee Beard Log Hive Gets a New Hat
Posted in Hives, Log hives, Natural Beekeeping, tagged Bee Beard Log Hive, beekeeping, honey bees, Log hive wood carving, natural beekeeping, Verticle log hive on April 24, 2016| 7 Comments »
I know this isn’t a lovely hackle like Johnathon Powell’s log hive ‘thatch roof’ covering. but the hive had to be fixed before attracting a swarm and this is swarm season. My wife suggested this stylish lid probably because she knew it would take me a long time to figure out a wooden solution. A ‘long time’ means Pat’s not contributing to the gardening effort.:)
The top of the hive has to vent the air through the quilt box without letting in any rainwater. How did the rainwater get in? See below.
Andrea’s Swarm Brings Joy Back to our Garden
Posted in Bee to Flower relationship, Bee Video, Bee-loving flowers, Natural Beekeeping, Tower of Jewels, Videos, Warre Hive, tagged bee-loving flowers, bees on Oregon Coast, honey bees, natural beekeeping, Tower of Jewels, Warre Hive on April 23, 2016| 11 Comments »
Hal’s #2, #3, #4, and #5 Tall Hives, and Patti’s Poem about Bees
Posted in Hives, Log Hive, Natural Beekeeping, tagged Log hive wood carving, Log hives, Verticle log hive on March 20, 2016| 13 Comments »
Number 4 Tall Hive in it’s glory days last year.
So you can imagine the heartbreak of realizing the #4 hive was a goner in late September. Hal took it down and opened it up…
Not to be discouraged, Hal cleaned out #4 hive and tacked on some screens.
Patti’s Poem
“Hal is Hooked on Bees”
Oregon’s spring will be here before long
Birds will twitter their unending song
Trees, shrubs, flowers will come alive
Orchards and gardens soon will thrive
But, without the honey bees we are lost
Salubrious summer sun is tossed
On our gardens where we toil and till
Hoping bees come with a working will
Years ago we had plenty of Bees so true
But when the old century turned into new
Along came CCD, bee colonies collapsed
Trumpets began playing dead Bee Taps
Bee deaths plagued my husband dear
A calm bee keeper for many a year
Now we tell how he learned to care
To save Bees so all the world can share
In 1995 our friend thought of us to show
How Honey Bees helped our garden grow
A lush home garden must have bees near
Pollination! Don’t even consider sting fear
Two bee hives placed near our front door
Our friend kept stacking up supers galore
With the boxed frames beeswax filled
A new swarm brought in the honey swill
Every week supers were piled on high
Hives grew seven feet nearer the blue sky
We saw pollen carried into the new hive
On every bee’s legs & the colony thrived
Our friend baited Hal, he just had to say
Bees dance! To show where to work today
Scouts fly to find tree homes that are okay
Then they dance to show swarms the way
Well, Hal was hooked, he had to try
Do the bees really dance, as well as fly?
Yes, said our friend as he harvested honey
And that liquid gold lasts longer ‘n money
Honey! The only food that never spoils
Made by the Honey Bees unending toils
On Crest Acres the World Record was set
Two hives gave more than anyone bet
Honey, six hundred and thirty pounds
Hard to believe, when it was so near town
That honey was soon taken with care
It was like St. Nicholas had visited there
Our friend put honey in a clear pint jar
Sent to the County Fair, to the Judge’s bar
Clear as glass, our honey took first prize
Friend gives pint to Hal, enticement-wise
Seven supers of honey were taken away
But the winter-ready hive has honey today
The Queen rests, as her ladies slip along
Used-up drones no longer sing their song
Wind rakes and the rains soak forest trees
The Queen is surrounded by her lady bees
They work the winter cleaning wax cells
Waiting ‘til warmth rings the Queen’s bell
Lady bees search out dry days in winter
Like to leave their warm, comfy center
They’re full, eating plenty of pollen soup
On good days, they fly out to take a poop
Early spring pulls the Queen’s trigger
She lays 2500 rice-sized eggs – not bigger
Every day at each cell she carefully stops
Each of the six-sided cells gets one drop
Right at ninety degrees the brood is kept
While the warm neat hive is cleanly swept
As the nurse bees crawl quietly about
In 21 days little bees chew their way out
Coquille Valley’s growth is super awesome
Good and plenty spring/summer blossoms
The Queen works, but may get moody too
Gather her team and swarm into the blue!
Patti Strain, January 2012
Updated: March 15, 2016
Patti also wrote The Story of Hal’s Bee Trees
Bees, Bogs, and El Niño
Posted in Feeding sugar, Grand Kids Log Hive, Hives, Log hives, Natural Beekeeping, Swarms, Tree hive, Warre Hive, tagged beekeeping, honey bees, Log hive wood carving, Log hives, natural beekeeping, Verticle log hive on March 12, 2016| 21 Comments »
2016 has not been a good year for my bees. My ‘end-of-year’ hive status saw four bee hives that had activity. Now I have only one.
After being in denial for a few weeks, I figured I’d face up to the fact this Warré was a goner.
Biting the bullet I figured I’d better find out ALL the bad news…and opened up Bee Beard log hive. Somehow rainfall had gotten inside here too, even with the hat and headband. Because of El Niño, we’ve had copious amounts of rainfall. Yes, it’s good for the forests, but not so good for the bee hives.
Footnote to above…I’d like to make a waterproof ‘hat’ for this hive. If anyone has a suggestion, please pass it on to me.
So why have these hives died back? Could it be the El Niño effect? Record rainfall in December? Ron lost his hives around December. This year I didn’t cover my hives very well. I should have been more careful.
Another thing that’s been bothering me for awhile is the questionable source of swarms I get from time to time. Where are they coming from? I’m beginning to realize they might be coming from the commercial hives in the cranberry bogs. The commercial hives, I just learned from a cranberry grower, come straight up from the almond orchards in California.
These ‘almond orchard bees’ could be infecting my bees and I DON’T GET any payment.
My wife suggests I ask Bill W. if he sells any Warré nucs. Bill lives inland about 150 miles (241 km). I tell him of my suspicions of commercial hives. His reply…
“Hello Pat,
I don’t have Warré nucs for sale. I get a lot of “bad” swarms also. These are mostly from poorly kept urban high density colonies having bees from poor commercial sources. I pick up a lot of swarms with poor genetics and failing queens. It has caused me to put out more hives and rely upon higher colony failure.
In the Willamette Valley, many commercial beekeepers will keep their colonies here when not busy with almonds or cranberries or something else.
Good luck. -Bill”
After assuming my troubles have come from the cranberry “bog bees,” I asked Steve about his bees. We had gotten a swarm of bees, (most likely they were from cranberry hives) last year, May 30th.
Then there’s Pete’s beehives. I asked him recently about his bees. He is near cranberry bogs too. “They’re doing great. Out flying every non-rainy day, getting into madrone blossoms and other things, possibly even gorse, bringing back all kinds of pollen.”
Bob (of home-built bee vac fame) said his hives were doing fine too. Bob is located near the bogs too. Hmmm, maybe I can’t blame my bee problems on the bogs.
Since my tree hive seems to have lasted through everything, I decide to try another one. I’ve got to do some trimming around it, but this will be the location for the next one. It’ll hold Warré sized bars, but it’s too heavy to lug around for a bait hive, so I’ll be trying to attract a swarm.
Bottom line…I think it was the El Niño rainfall. I chose NOT to cover my Warré bee hives this winter. Why not? I didn’t see other beekeepers cover their hives up. I think the difference this year is my observation window covers are slightly warped (outward) Some rain possibly entered there. With so much more rainfall this year than in other years, it was just too much. Somehow the rain got into Bee Beard Log Hive too. I’ll have to work up some kind of ‘head gear’ to shed water. As for the Grand Kids Log hive? I still have to figure that one out. Maybe it WAS a weak, diseased strain of bees from the commercial hives.
2015 Year End Hive Report
Posted in Bee Video, Bee-loving flowers, Grand Kids Log Hive, Growing flowers for bees, Hives, Log hives, Natural Beekeeping, Tree hive, Videos, Yellow vetch pollination video on January 2, 2016| 20 Comments »
So I’m back to four hives. I’m a little worried about the Warré hive, because of all the moisture inside. I’m hoping the sheet of black plastic I tacked on three sides will cut the wind and moisture back. In the video you can see bees tossing out dead bees. I always think of that Doors song with Jim Morrison chanting, “Bring out your dead,” over and over again.
I’m a treatment-free beekeeper for better or worse. I can’t bring myself to believe that killing the varroa mites will solve any problems. I’m of the opinion that we will NEVER rid the bees of varroa mites. The bees MUST adapt, because eventually the mites will develop a resistance to the poison and then what do you do? I say let the bees adapt. Let the weak hives go.
I’m not feeding the bees anything either. I saw bees bringing in pollen into my Warré hive in December. It could be ivy or even gorse. If they can hang on just a bit longer, they will get pollen from the pussy willow blossoms. Jonathan Powell of the Natural Beekeeping Trust, also explains the risks of sugar very well at about 3 minutes into this you-tube video. “Studies have shown that sugar destroys the bees internal intestines and also it destroys a very particular enzyme call the P450 enzyme which the bees use to counteract some of the pesticides and toxins they find in the environment. So by feeding sugar, we may be averting a starvation if you’ve taken too much honey, but we are also damaging the bees.” And here’s another article about feeding anything can be detrimental to the hive. (including honey)