During a routine inspection, new beekeepers may be alarmed when finding many dead bees outside the hive. In some cases, this is a cause for concern and requires further investigation. But in other instances, it’s a part of the natural life cycle of the colony. However, certain clues about the deaths will help you figure…
Most beekeepers try to keep swarming under control. After all… there’s a chance you might lose a good proportion of your bees if you can’t lure the swarm back into a new hive. That said, a swarm is a positive sign from your honey bees that they are happy, healthy, and growing. And sometimes you…
Several pests can cause trouble for your honey bees, but two of the most common are small hive beetles and wax moths. Both are a real nuisance. And they can be tricky to identify if you come across them for the first time. But each has distinct characteristics that will help you tell them apart….
A bee colony without a queen has no hope for survival without a new queen being introduced to the colony. Yet the bees can sometimes reject a new queen and kill her before she has a chance to become part of the colony. The reason for this action is mainly driven by instinct, but is…
Bees in the wild will adopt many strange places as suitable for making a home! Sometimes this can include the dry, warm, and sheltered cavities in the walls of our homes. Should the bees take up residence in the walls of your home, how long can the bees remain inside a wall, and how long…
Beekeeping requires an intimate understanding of how bees operate in different seasons. And the timing of certain maintenance operations is significant. Removing supers for winter is one of those tricky beekeeping operations! It demands good timing. And you need to know whether it is even necessary at all! Should You Remove Honey Supers For Winter?…
The role of the queen bee is critical in a honey bee colony. Most new beekeepers know this. But the other significant events in her life can sometimes be a mystery. A common question is whether or not the queen leaves the hive. And if so, when, why, or how many times? This might seem…
For a new beekeeper, discovering that your honey bees have abandoned the hive is a pretty alarming event. You went to all the hard work of setting them up in a lovely new snug home, and then they vanished from one day to the next! Or maybe things seem to have been going well, when…
Finding large numbers of drones outside the hive can be a bit of a shock. After all… Most of the year, this is not where you usually come across male bees. However, in certain situations, drones will congregate at the front of the hive. Or you could find piles of drone corpses at the hive…
When you become a beekeeper, you learn all kinds of fascinating things about bee behavior. One of those things is festooning. This refers to how bees sometimes cling together like a chain between two points in space. When you observe this for the first time, you might be puzzled. What is it the bees are…
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