ADD SUPER BOXES NOW AND MORE. . .

Hi Folks,

I added my honey supers in the last two days and sure enough, it was time!!  I found several frames full of capped honey already.  I'm convinced, the honey-flow is just around the (soltice) corner!  I'm still removing lots of queen cells so I don't have any swarms right before my girls bring in all the golden honey!!  I had to remove grass from in front of my hives again.  Hey - if you don't want to remove or trim the grass, you can get an old carpet remnant and lay it down in front of your hive(s).  This will save you time and work. Don't forget that your bees might get overheated right now since it's so hot outside.  One way to tell if your bees are too hot is if you have hundreds or even thousands of bees fanning the air out in front of their hive.  If you suspect they may be overheated, just place
16-penny nails diagonally across the top-front corner edges (right under the top lid).  This will allow for better ventilation.  By the way, you picked a great season to keep honeybees!!  I do believe this season will bring in a very boutiful harvest!!!

ADDING YOUR SUPERS!!

I will be adding my excluders and honey supers by June 24th this year.  This season I've found way more queen cells than last year but I've seen worse years for swarming.  So keep clearing out any queen cells you may find.  Keeping water nearby is still vital as our bees need it to produce honey.

Beekeeping Lab

I will be teaching a six hour class on beekeeping if you know anyone who is interested in learning about bees.  It will be a live lab with bee suits for adults and children.  Half of the class is on bees and beekeeping (6/19/12) the other half of the class will take place in August when we will learn about harvesting honey and wax for candles, etc. Cost: $100 per family To Reserve Space: call 374-8984

GARDENING TIPS

Yesterday I was weeding and thinning my carrots and thought I'd share that carrots love sand!!  The key to growing outstanding carrots is to use silty soil and thin them regularly.  Right now, I've thinned my carrots to one half or one inch apart.  Have you ever noticed that for every beet seed you plant, you get two plants?  I always pull out the weaker of the two so that the one I leave will get more nutrients and have more space to develop.  Lastly, if you wait until July 4th to plant turnips, they will have considerably less worm rott.  I hope you all are enjoying all the living things like I am this summer.  The weather has been perfect since we are able to let the Lord water for us!!  Mostly sunshine and a shower every day - you can't ask for better conditions.

Pull Your Entrance Reducer(s)

Now it is time to pull your entrance reducers!!  If you haven't removed your outer & inner insulation, do it now. Also, sugar feeding should be long over now. We don't want honey made from sugar but rather, pollens.  June is the month for swarming.  To prevent swarming, remove any queen cells you find on your frames.  Also, if your bees are crowded and don't have enough space, they should be given more boxes.  This is called, "bee space".  Remember to keep an eye on your water level.  If your hive is near a pond, river, lake, etc. then you have no worries but bees need water just like any other living thing so keep your water source nearby and check it often.

Successful Hive Checks!!

Yesterday several students attended the top bar demo.  It was a lot of fun and I answered many questions.  Together, we removed multiple queen cells, removed the outer insulation and found two out of three queens.  All inner insulation is completely removed and replaced with empty or drawn-out frames and there are no longer sugar feeders in the hives except for my top bar since my bees in that hive still need to build several more combs.  Stay tuned as our next big change will be adding the queen excluder and two supers to the top of your hive(s).

TOP BAR HIVE DEMONSTRATION TODAY!!

My top bar hive is located in Aurora Subdivision.  (1709 Carr Avenue) 
If you are on College Road, turn onto Aurora Drive (Across from the fairgrounds) Drive over the Noyes Slough bridge and a couple more blocks to Carr; turn Left passing two houses the third house should be a very old two story vertical log cabin; Park in the drive way and the hives are behind the shop (tan)  My cell phone number is 378-1563 if you need any further assistance in finding it.
Hope to see you there!!
Dawn