Although its been said many times, many ways...

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU!

And to my many fellow beekeeping friends

around the world, I bid you and yours:

Feliz Navidad!

Fröhliche Weihnachten!

En frehlicher Grischtdaag!

Nollaig chridheil huibh!

Milad Majid!

Noeliniz Ve Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun!

Kala Christouyenna!

Feliz Natal!

Mele Kalikimaka!

Nadolig Llawen!

Natale hilare et Annum Faustum!

Pozdrevlyayu s prazdnikom Rozhdestva is Novim Godom!

Joyeux Noel!

Buone Feste Natalizie!

Hristos se rodi!

Vrolijk Kerstfeest en een Gelukkig Nieuwjaar!

Srozhdestvom Kristovym!

Mo'adim Lesimkha. Chena tova!

And for 2011, may your hives be full and your honey sweet!

God be with you all..

Mark

My worst fears may come true. It may be a long, hard winter!

The news accounts are true; the East coast is absolutely, positively frigid!  As you can see, it was mighty cold here this morning.  When I snapped this picture, the temperature was 13-degrees, but the morning low at sunrise was an icy 11-degrees.  And the weather services are calling for snow and ice here tonight and tomorrow, then another wave of it on Saturday.  It looks like Old Man Winter decided to come calling a little early.

In preparation for the cold snap, I checked my bees over the weekend.  They're no longer taking syrup, so I switched over to feeding them homemade bee candy (the recipe is coming in a future post).  Two of the three hives are fine and I'm sure they'll make it through the winter.  But the third, the lime green hive, I admit I have grave concerns about. 

The temperature on Saturday was 45-degrees as I did the quick inspection, and the bees in the yellow and orange hives met me as I cracked open the tops.  Everything looked fine although they were a little testy.  I'm most sure they wondered who was opening their home in the cold weather.  So I placed candy and pollen substitute on the frames and shut everything up tight so they could settle down.  Plus I didn't want to take too long and allow the cold air to permeate the hives.

But the lime hive, well, that was a different story.  When I opened the hive, I found honey all through the top chamber, but I only saw a few bees...and they were dead.  I looked down through the hive and could see all the way through to the screened bottom board.  And as I put my head down near the top, I could hear buzzing.  Finally in frustration, I took my hive tool and rapped several times really loud on the side of the hive.  That's when a handful of bees came to the top to see what the ruckus was about.  With an uneasy feeling, I put the candy and pollen substitute on the frames and quickly shut it up.  I may be wrong and hope I am, but I have a feeling that may be the last time I hear buzzing coming from this colony.  This has been the weakest hive I own; much weaker that the other two and just slow to build up.  If they are lucky enough to make it through the winter, the first thing I want to do this coming spring is replace the queen.  While she was fine initially, I think she has slowly failed as the year progressed.  And my gut feeling is that if I don't replace her, they'll supersede her on their own.  We'll see what happens.

I'll post the recipe for the bee candy soon.  Its a heck of a lot better than gumming up the hive with the "mountain camp" method...and my bees went right to it.  

Until next time, BEE warm!    

You can see my hives from high in the sky thanks to Google!

Well what do you know?  Google has changed their newest satellite maps in my area and now you can actually see the bee hives behind my house!

The older images that Google used before were seriously outdated.  They were really fuzzy and it was tough to make out the details about my area.  But they obviously decided to do an update sometime since mid-March of this year because my outbuilding, which is located at the lower end of my property, was finished when the image was made.

If you click on the photo above, you can see my house as it looks high in the sky.  You can see my house, then my outbuilding -- and just to the upper right of the building -- you see my hives.  And of you look really close, albeit a little fuzzy, you can even make out three bee hives.  I believe the glow from the hives is the sun's reflection from the sheet metal of the hive covers.  And if you look just beyond my hives, you can see the creek that my bees use for their honey and to cool the hives in the hot, humid summer months in North Carolina.

Looking at the image, I have to wonder if that's the view my girls see when they make their orientation flights to learn where home is?  Is that the sight they see when they come home after a long day of foraging?

Google is getting really good with the technology they use these days.  Before you know it, they'll get so good, you'll be able to make out the bees as they come and go from their hives!

If you want to see if you can find your house and even your hives, click on the link above and play around with it.  Its pretty simple to use and fun too.

Another reason to buy LOCALLY produced honey!

I was picking up a few things are the grocery store when I happened to take a good look at a bottle of honey sitting on the shelf.  And when I read the label, I could see just one more reason why people should buy locally produced honey.  

Whenever I talk to people about honey bees, I often tell them to support their local beekeepers.  Why?  There are so many reasons why.  Mainly because local honey is so much healthier and contains the elements (nectar and pollen) from local fruits and vegetables and flowers which is great for people with allergies and other health issues.  Plus its great to suppport the local beekeepers and their families because you keep local dollars in their pockets.

But here's another reason.  Take a good look at the label from this container of "Burleson's Natural Pure Honey" that I found at the grocery store.  While Burleson's is headquartered in Texas, the honey in the bottle comes from EVERYWHERE else!  If you read the print, you can see that it comes from the United States, Argentina, Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Vietnam!  So while the honey in the jar did in fact come from honey bees which makes it natural, it also comes from all over the globe.  And to me, that's just not good. 

I've read that almost 240 million pounds of honey is imported into the United States from a number of countries, but mainly from places like Argentina, Canada, China and Vietnam.  Who knows what kind of management practices some beekeeper in Vietnam may use with his or her bees...or what chemicals they use to treat them?  I've read accounts where Asian honey, tested by U.S. Customs, contained Ciprofloxacin and Enrofloxacin and different pesticides.  If you remember, Ciprofloxin or 'Cipro' was the same antibiotic used to treat people exposed in the Anthrax attacks years ago.  Who wants that made-made chemical compound in their honey?

Please understand that I'm not slamming beekeepers in other countries.  I have many online friends who are beekeepers in other continents and countries...including Canada.  And I thoroughly enjoy reading their blogs to see how they handle their bees.  But when it comes to honey, I just think its better to buy a locally produced product from people you know.  That way you know how they handle their bees and know about the end product.  My opinion is that's its better for everyone all around.

Support your local beekeeper!

SNOW! My area gets the first snowfall for the fall/winter season of 2010-2011!

Its the beginning of December, but Santa Claus would be proud of the first snowfall for the fall and winter of 2010-2011. And hey, according to the calendar, its not officially winter yet!  The snow started around 2 o'clock on Saturday afternoon with huge flakes falling, then light snow, and then back to huge flakes.  Throw in a light sprinkling of some sleet too and we got a nice wintry mix.  As you can see though, the concrete and asphalt were warm enough to not cause problems until night fell, but the roads started getting slushy late in the evening.

North Carolina is the home to the University of North Carolina Tarheels, the North Carolina State University Wolfpack, the Wake Forest University Demon Deacons and the Duke University Blue Devils.  Since this bird house is Duke blue, it would only be appropriate that a blue jay reside there in the warm summer months!




A sleeping Dogwood tree.  This is a beautiful tree that borders my property and is covered with dark pink flowers in the late spring in time for Easter.  Snow flakes covered every limb!







One of several camellia bushes in my yard.  Mind you, they're all covered by snow now, but they're loaded with buds for the spring of 2011!  I don't think that bees are attracted to camellia flowers because I've never noticed them on mine.  But my neighbors keep beautifully landscaped yards so they have plenty of other flowers to choose from!    




No album of a snowfall would be complete without a snapshot of my bee hives.  Yes the girls are all snug as bugs inside their hives.  But as you can see, the snow covered up the entrances to all three.  While it sometimes acts as an insulation barrier to keep those icy winter winds out, it also keeps the bees from going out when temperatures rise.



To help the ladies, I opened up their entrances so they wouldn't have to wait for Mother Nature to do it for them.  Now they can quickly and discreetly go outside to do their business when nature calls.  By the way, the bees in the yellow hive are still taking 2:2 syrup from the Boardman feeder.




The snowfall of December 4th covered everything.  It was truly beautiful.  And thank goodness it happened early enough in the day that everyone could enjoy it.  With the Sunday temperatures forecast to be sunny and in the 40s range, you will never know that a snow event even happened here.  But with photos, we'll always have our memories.  Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

Its been a long time, but we're all still here!

It has been a good while since I've blogged.  I had someone ask me just the other day what has become of my bees and me, so I knew then that it was time to jump online and do an update.

Its not because I don't care anymore or that I've lost interest.  Oh no, far from it.  It seems that I got lost in time around late summer when my brother got sick, and then his death.  Then it seemed like I just didn't have enough time to do things.  Throw in my yearly vacation and then back to work, and broadcasters will tell you that one of the busiest times of the year is between Halloween and the new year.  So I've definitely had my hands full and unfortunately, blogging had to take a back seat.  But I hope to get back in the groove and get back to blogging about my love for beekeeping.

My bees are doing okay.  As you probably know, I have three hives.  The yellow hive is the oldest and the orange and lime hives were established this year. 

All three colonies are doing okay, but I have to admit that I'm a little worried about the lime colored hive.  It seem to have the smallest number of bees of the three.  As I took the top off the hive to check for honey stores, I could look down through the frames and see the bottom board.  There were bees in there, but unlike the other two colonies still booming with bees, the lime hive has what seems to be lower numbers.  And honestly I think its the queen in that hive.  This colony was slower to get off the ground, the queen would do fine in laying for awhile and then get spotty, and it seems like they just didn't do as well as the other two. 

The other two colonies?  They're fine it seems.  I have a feeling I'll feed them through the winter just to make sure they'll do okay; syrup until they stop taking it, and if necessary, the "mountain camp" method until spring. 

As of now, I'm sure I'll replace the queen in the lime hive this spring, probably with a Minnesota Hygienic.  As I look back now, I should have replaced her this fall, but with everything going on I just didn't have time.  But if the colony makes it until spring, I'll replace her.  The queen in the orange hive (which is a sister to the queen in the lime hive..they came from the same queen breeder) has done rather well and I hope she will keep going strong.  And I plan to keep the queen in the yellow hive even though she has some age on her (she was my first queen) -- and she'll stay as long as she keeps laying a good pattern.  So far, so good.  We'll see if she cranks up and gets going this coming spring.  Some beekeepers believe in replacing their queens every two years, but my theory is, as long as a queen does a good job, just leave her alone.

So that's it, a brief update.  As you can see, we're all doing okay, and if we can all make it thorough the next few months, we'll get started up again this spring.  As of right now, I'm making a list of things I need for the coming year including hive equipment.  I have a feeling I'll have more bees this spring.  Thing is...where will I put them?  Wow...now theres even more to think about!

More updates soon!

Georgia man killed by swarm of Africanized bees.

Africanized Honeybees Found In Georgia
Courtesy: Georgia Department of Agriculture
Tommy Irvin, Commissioner

Entomological tests have confirmed that Africanized honeybees were responsible for the death of an elderly man in Dougherty County last week. News reports say the man accidentally disturbed a feral colony of bees with his bulldozer and that he received more than 100 stings.

“This is the first record of Africanized honeybees in Georgia,” said Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin.

Africanized honeybees are a hybrid of African and European honeybees. Because of their extremely defensive nature regarding their nest (also referred to as a colony or hive), they are sometimes called “killer bees.” Large numbers of them sometimes sting people or livestock with little provocation.

The Africanized honeybee and the familiar European honeybee (Georgia’s state insect) look the same and their behavior is similar in some respects. Each bee can sting only once, and there is no difference between Africanized honeybee venom and that of a European honeybee. However, Africanized honeybees are less predictable and more defensive than European honeybees. They are more likely to defend a wider area around their nest and respond faster and in greater numbers than European honeybees.

Africanized honeybees first appeared in the U.S. in Texas in 1990. Since then they have spread to New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Florida and now Georgia. Entomologists and beekeepers have been expecting the arrival of these bees in Georgia for several years. There has been an established breeding population in Florida since 2005.

Because Africanized honeybees look almost identical to European honeybees, the bees from the Dougherty County incident had to be tested to accurately ascertain they were the Africanized strain. The Georgia Department of Agriculture sent samples of the bees to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services which has the capability to do FABIS (fast African bee identification system) testing and the U.S. Department of Agriculture identification test (the complete morphometrics test) to confirm the bees’ identity.

Africanized honeybees are the result of an experiment that went awry in Brazil in the 1950s. Researchers were trying to create a honeybee better suited to tropic conditions. A few of the African bees escaped and began hybridizing with European honeybees. The hybrid “Africanized” honeybees (so named because they get their extremely defensive nature from the African honeybee) began colonizing South America and Central America, then Mexico and the U.S.

“Georgia beekeepers are our first and best line of defense against these invaders. They are the ones who will be able to monitor and detect any changes in bee activity,” said Commissioner Irvin.

“The Georgia Department of Agriculture is going to continue its trapping and monitoring of bee swarms to try to find where any Africanized honeybees are,” said Commissioner Irvin. “We also want to educate people about what to do in case they encounter a colony of Africanized honeybees. Georgians can visit our website for more information. The University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service has a publication on Africanized honeybees that is available online (http://pubsadmin.caes.uga.edu/files/pdf/B%201290_2.PDF) or at Extension offices.”