Category Archives: Observation

Robbing 3 –> Obtain ferals and LetMBee

Posted on October 28, 2016 by Jason

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 →

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Robbing – 2: What do you do?

Posted on September 26, 2016 by Jason

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 →

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Robbing can teach us about honeybees 1

Posted on September 19, 2016 by Jason

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

Holes – in perfectly good woodenware

Posted on August 19, 2016 by Jason

I have had many questions about the 1 inch holes pictured in my deep hive bodies. When I began keeping bees I bought a bunch of used equipment from a keeper who was retiring. He had holes in some of his equipment, … Continue reading →

Posted in Experiments, HowTo, Methods, Observation, Posts | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Predictions, and what happens

Posted on July 29, 2016 by Jason

Early this year I attempted a prediction on a colony overwintering. see Animal Husbandry – Understanding Vigor 2016-02-05. In the post I was comparing 1512 and 1514. I stand by the observations, 1512 had less vigor than 1514. HOWEVER, even … Continue reading →

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Non-Targeted Species – ants in Trap01

Posted on July 22, 2016 by Jason

Over the years I have had several e-mails about a number of non-targeted species taking up residence in swarm traps. I have been really lucky, as I don’t generally have problems with this. That being said, I had something happen this year … Continue reading →

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Because of honeybees

Posted on May 8, 2016 by Jason

Trapping bees has given me an opportunity to witness some interesting things over the years. It’s easy to get preoccupied with the beekeeping and forget to mention some of the other things I have seen just because I was OUTSIDE MORE due … Continue reading →

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Trapping on the Ground

Posted on May 4, 2016 by Jason

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

Red and Beige pollen

Posted on March 23, 2016 by Jason

Last Friday (3/18/2016) I visited 3 hives. While there I took a walk to see if I could find bees working the Purple dead-nettle (Lamium purpureum). I had observed bees entering hives with RED pollen and thought it was from the Nettle. … Continue reading →

Posted in Great Weeds, Observation, Uncategorized, What's going on.. | Tagged , , | 4 Comments