For first year beekeepers I recommend inspecting your hive at least once every 2 weeks. Doing so will really help you understand the natural flow of a hive. You will learn so much in the first year! the best way to learn beekeeping is to go out there and do it! When conducting a routine hive inspection there are only a few things you need to make sure of. Healthy Queen You can tell if a queen is healthy or not by her brood pattern. Lots of healthy brood of varying stages tell

When and how to add honey supers to your hive for a bigger harvest. Learn when to super, when to add a queen excluder, and a frame-rotation trick to make more honey.

Finding queen cells in your hive can be very confusing. In this article I am going to break down how to identify what caused your ladies to raise a cell and what to do. There are four reasons a hive will produce queen cells. The hive is going to swarm (swarm cell) The hive is going to replace it queen (supersedure cell). The hive lost its queen. the hive just feels like raising queen cells... The Hive is going to swarm (swarm cell) Swarming is the bees natural way of reproduc

Swarming is the bees natural way of reproducing. In the wilde a hive would cast one or 2 swarms a year. The trigger that start a swarm mainly comes from an overcrowded hive. This hive is very full, it will swarm soon if left to itself. Hives tend to want to swarm in the Spring. There are several things that can be done to prevent swarming. Splitting is the most effective way to take the "swarm" out of a hive. When you split you are effectively creating an artificial swarm. Re

Winter is when most beekeepers lose their hive. Hives can die for a variety of reasons during the winter. After reading this article you will hopefully be well equipped with the knowledge to see your hive safely through the cold months. Winter preparation should really start in October. Hives with less than 3-4 frames of bees should be combined. Make sure your hive has 40-60 lbs of honey/syrup Check your Mite levels! Many hives die during the winter due to varroa! Make sure y

Feeding hives is a great way to keep you hives healthy, strong, and happy. Those girls really respond well to sugar! However, there are a few guidelines to follow to get the best results. I like the division board feeders (see below picture) I like the division board feeder because it holds more syrup than a regular jar feeder and it gives the hive immediate access to the syrup. When to feed Feeding is important when you need the bees to to produce wax. A hive has to consume

Honeybees are truly amazing. They can fly miles for food, defend themselves against attack, and survive the harshest winters. But despite being so tough, there are some basic things bees need to survive, and plenty of problems that can befall them. Click Here to view a month by month timeline of beekeeping management. Although Honey Bees need specific treatment at different times of the year. There are several different factors that will help a hive stay healthy and strong. L

Spring is one of the busiest times of the year for the beekeeper. If you plan to requeen or split make sure you have queens on order as they are usually sold out by March. We offer Italian/Carniolan queens that are strong, productive and gentle! Beekeepers Checklist · Remove hives that died during winter. The boxes and comb can be reused as long as the hive did not die from a brood disease. · Clean boxes in storage and prepare them for honey supering · Check mite levels and t

Varroa/Parasitic Mite Syndrome Varroa is one of the biggest problems in today’s beekeeping industry; proper understanding of them and the ability to identify the symptoms can help us effectively fight them. Symptoms/Identification Spotty Brood (can also be from a poor queen) Deformed wings Frequent spotting of mites on top of bees and in brood How it Spreads Robbing Foraging Drifting Diagnose Powder Sugar Roll Alcohol Wash Kills brood in all stages of development Treatment Ap

Splitting hives is one of the easiest, cheapest ways to grow your hive count. Step-by-step instructions for making a nuc split, plus tips on timing and feeding.

A step-by-step method for splitting bee hives for exponential growth, from one hive to ~30 in a season. Includes queen vs. queen cell tips, costs, and Varroa control.