Listen to the Treatment-free Beekeeping Podcast episode where I talk about catching swarms: Swarming is nearly upon us in Indiana, so I’m re-posting a link to the Treatment-Free Beekeeping Podcast – How to Catch Swarms with Solomon Parker. left->right 1614, CB12, 1203, Baited-8, 1211, 1110, 1635 Don’t have your traps out yet?  It’s time to get on it! Don’t have them made and ready for deployment?  THERE’S STILL TIME, but you’re really going to have to get moving! Honeybees will swarm for the rest of the summer. The largest glut occurs in the beginning of the seaso ..read more

Hanging Traps All but 6 traps have been baited and staged, out of the way. You might be wondering, “why so early?” Bees won’t be swarming yet in Indiana.  To that I’d say, you are right, but there are TWO good reasons to get traps baited and staged a little early. Much of what you read today recommends beekeepers be reactionary as if the sky was always falling.  Beekeeping is more fun when you formulate a logical plan and see it through to a successful end. Understanding biology and having a logical plan is a strategy that is working for me and I think it will help y ..read more

Swarm Season is approaching in the Northern Hemisphere, I can see that interest in the subject is growing from my Stats.  In the coming weeks I will be talking about some podcasts I have been on about Bees.  They will be posted in chronological order.  If you have some time and want to hear about trapping and treatment-free beekeeping give them a listen. The Survival Podcast Episode – 1217 – On Capturing Wild SwarmsAir Date 9/31/2013 Episode-1217- Jason Bruns on Capturing Wild Swarms In this podcast from 2013 I had been trapping for only a couple years.  I can ..read more

ready for modification Got some new inner covers from Brushy Mountain for the 8 frame colonies this year.  I have purchased the 10-frame version in the past and have always been happy with them.  I like to modify these inner covers to allow for a 5/16 inch top entrance that is protected by the a standard outer cover.  These inner covers allows for warm moist air to exit the the hive in the winter above the cluster.  Since converting from quilt boxes to this type of inner cover I have had much better success overwintering.  I also have observed far ..read more

They know the drill This deep of Lang frames looked like an Adam’s Family Accordion.  It’s a sign of allowing something to happen that should have dealt with a long time ago.  This colony was struggling last fall and I thought it had lived long enough to be out of danger from wax moths.  I thought it had frozen hard enough to kill moths before this colony died.  As you can see I was wrong.  These frames had to be beaten out of the box with a mallet and the chickens went to work on them. tool for removing comb from foundaitionless frames The ..read more

Old frames now foundationless Re-working old frames can be tedious, especially if you attempt to put new foundation in them. This task is greatly simplified by switching to foundationless. The most difficult part is getting the old comb and foundation out of the frame. After that the wedge board is removed, rotated 90 degrees, and nailed back to the top bar. The majority of excess wax should be scraped from the frame, but after that it is ready to go back into a bee hive.  It does NOT have to be perfectly clean. I have hundreds of deep frames out there and only a fraction of them have f ..read more

One of my favorite songs by Tom Petty is from his Highway Companion album. It’s called Big Weekend and years ago I might have desired a weekend like the one described in the song. I’m a little more dedicated to practical matters these days and a BIG WEEKEND is one that I get a lot accomplished. I need a BIG WEEKEND; Kick up the dust I need a BIG WEEKEND; If you don’t run you RUST! Last weekend was a BIG WEEKEND around here. For the last two months I have been preparing for the coming season. Everything has been assembled now it’s time for the horrible job of painting. Pain ..read more

R.I.P. – 1517 I am beginning to realize that I have a problem.  Every time I see weathered bee equipment I have an incredible urge to build a Swarm Trap.  I am powerless to overcome it…..  I’m addicted!  I am quickly becoming the crazy-cat-lady of swarm traps!  If you haven’t experienced the joy of trapping swarms you may not understand my addiction.  There is no negative consequence to submitting to peer pressure here.  If you try it and have success you will become hope-FULLY addicted to trapping swarms. Just like many others  ..read more

Tried to order stuff from Kelley’s again and had the same issue as last year.  The mill-work on this wooden-ware is poor compared to standard Langstroth boxes I have received from Brushy Mountain and Mann Lake.  I always purchase either commercial or budget grade hive bodies which ever is available and cheapest.  I’m not into select grade because I know this stuff is all going to have a lifespan and towards the end everything will eventually be re-purposed into CatchBoxes or Swarm Traps. Truth in advertising: Above are some deep boxes that I ordered last winter to ..read more

If you’re reading this and you haven’t read Robbing can teach us about honeybees or Robbing – 2: What do you do? you might want to start there.  Just to summarize, last time I came home from work to a robbing episode.  Two colonies were being selectively targeted for robbing while one feral colony was left alone. Robbing Observations 7/7/2010 – 1003 The robbers looked different than my packages from Kelley’s Beekeeping Co. in 2010. They were closer in coloration and size to 1005, the feral colony from the barrel cutout. I’ve re ..read more