Category Archives: Feral Bees

Robbing 3 –> Obtain ferals and LetMBee

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 … Continue reading

Posted in animal husbandry, Feral Bees, Methods, Observation, Posts | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Robbing – 2: What do you do?

What’s to be done about robbing? “How do I stop my bees from getting robbed?”  It’s the question I get, after an account of the some brutal insect behavior. In the spirit of PermaCulture the answer this question is a “slow solution”. This will NOT be … Continue reading

Posted in animal husbandry, Feral Bees, Observation | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Robbing can teach us about honeybees 1

Part 1:  Robbing is a Problem. First thing’s first. Robbing sucks, but, IT’S NOT A REASON TO FREAK OUT! Take a deep breath…. Count to TEN. I remember when I began beekeeping. I read of all these alien things that … Continue reading

Posted in Feral Bees, Hive Reports, Observation, Uncategorized, What's going on.. | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Getting it done

If you want to be successful in beekeeping you’re going to have to put some work in. Reading or looking around on the Internet is only scratching the surface. The real work starts once you have bees and are dealing with … Continue reading

Posted in Feral Bees, Genetics, HowTo, Methods, Posts, Swarm Trapping, What's going on.. | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Trapping on the Ground

Last weekend I discussed Swarm Trapping on the Treatment-Free Beekeeping Podcast.  Solomon and I brushed the surface, but hopefully it will get more people interested in giving this a try.  There’s getting to be more and more information available on feral … Continue reading

Posted in Feral Bees, Genetics, HowTo, Methods, Observation, Posts, Swarm Trapping | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Trapping Quick Reference

It’s been good getting back into the swing of regular posting. In doing so I have discovered a couple things that need updating on this site. I have been talking about different aspects of swarm trapping for several years now. … Continue reading

Posted in Feral Bees, Genetics, HowTo, Swarm Trapping | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Resource Devotion to Reproduction

In nature we find resources utilized in what appears initially as inefficient allocations. Cases where resources are allocated in odd ways include many examples of sexual dimorphism in mammals, birds, and insects resulting in ornamentation and secondary sexual characteristics. These … Continue reading

Posted in Feral Bees, Genetics, Posts, Rants | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Evolution in Swarm Trap Logic

A while back I had some dialogue with Jason a beekeeper that operates about 45 minutes to the South of me. I have been talking bees with him for several years now over the internet though we never really have met … Continue reading

Posted in Feral Bees, Genetics, HowTo, Swarm Trapping | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Sun Choke Blooms

The Jerusalem Artichokes (Sun chokes) have been in bloom the last couple weeks. This time of year I cut the blooms off for two reasons. I have read that when you remove the flowers, they will put more resources into … Continue reading

Posted in Feral Bees, Great Weeds, Posts, Scouting | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Survival Podcast Interview

Last week I was interviewed by Jack Spirko at The Survival Podcast. When the interview was over my head was spinning and I am not confident I communicated everything as clearly as I should have. It probably didn’t sound like … Continue reading

Posted in Feral Bees, HowTo, Posts, Swarm Trapping, What's going on.. | 18 Comments