Date – Sunday 11/21/20216:00 pm – 7:30 pm ET I’ll be hosting an online get together via zoom on Sunday, November 21st starting at 6:00 pm ET to catch up on how 2021 has been for our bees, to talk about getting our bees ready for winter, and to share anything of interest from the …
Author: The Bumbling Beekeeper
Getting Ready for Winter: Wind Control
My bees are on a farmer friend’s property and there’s no natural wind break on the north side of the hives, so I need to do a couple of things to protect them. I can’t erect a wind break because it’ll create obstacles for my farmer that he doesn’t need so I just use Lowe’s …
Getting Ready for Winter: Food
In mid-October, we went through hives and moved brood down, food above the brood, and open frames on the far edges of the hive (if there were any empty or mostly empty frames). By mid-October, a lot of the queens were winding down on laying eggs and it wasn’t unusual to see small patches of …
Chewing Bees!
While working with Kathi-Luise to get her bees ready for winter, we noticed that they chewed through the entrance reducer we added to make other entrances. This is a sign of chewing bees and since I was already thinking about it, when I was in my bees the next day I noticed that one of …
Community: Revisting Kathi-Luise and Her Bees
Here’s a video we did this week with a recap of what’s been going on with Kathi-Luise’s bees.
What’s New in the Bee Yard?
Nectar Dearth! Whew! Is it almost over? This summer has been a particularly hard summer for my bees in terms of nectar available. Spring was amazing and my bees made more honey that I’ve seen in 14 years. I took some, but left most of it thinking there would be lots for winter. But they’ve …
Bees on the Downtown Greenway
The Parks & Rec department of the city of Greensboro has been working on a 4 mile hike and bike trail that goes around the city. [ Downtown Greenway website ] The project has been underway for a number of years. There are 4 cornerstone parks on the greenway, and the one in the northwest corner at …
Community: In the Bee Yard with Kathi-Luise
Kathi-Luise attended the 2021 Spring Beginning Beekeeping class. She was able to get bees from a friend that keeps bees and captures swarms and the friend also provided some equipment to get her started. She’s able to keep the hive near her home on a friend’s property that includes woods and lots of native plants. …
Community: In the Bee Yard with Claude
Claude attended the 2021 Spring Beginning Beekeeping class. He had kept bees many years before so still had some equipment available. Claude lives on some beautiful property in Reidsville and thought he’d give beekeeping another go. As a skilled carpenter, Claude was able to add to or repair his existing equipment. He ordered a package …
Community: In the Bee Yard with Becca & Morgan
Becca and Morgan attended the 2021 Spring Beginning Beekeeping class. Morgan is a friend of Becca’s daughter and they decided to work together this year. Becca wanted a long hive instead of just a traditional langstroth or top bar hive, so she built it. The hive is beautiful and has a bit of steampunk look …