Wanted to share some pics I took this past Sunday in my garden. It’s a furry, silvery mystery bee with black and white stripes I hadn’t seen till after this recent rain. These bees were significantly smaller than my honeybees, moved faster, and also seemed more timid, and afraid of honeybees when they landed on the same Read more about Mystery Bee in Garden[…]
I have some crazy sized African Blue Basil growing in my back yard, which is covered in bees. My basil plants are now 3+ years old, over 6′ high and at least that wide. No hint of slowing down over winter – they’re covered in flowers and bees year round, lots of ladybugs in spring Read more about African Blue Basil – A Beekeeper’s Dream[…]
Continued from My first possible pesticide incident, and sample collection. Part 1 After discovering a large number of dead bees just down the road from the office, I collected a sample, preserved them and sent them in for analysis. It ended up just costing just $2.50 to mail off the sample to the laboratory, really great Read more about Pesticides vs Pests or Pathogens: Part 2 the Results[…]
My colleague and I usually walk around the block here off Hollister and Robin Hill in Goleta mid afternoon to enjoy some fresh air and give our eyes a break from computer screens and robots. Yesterday, I’d been impressed by just how many bees were visiting the bottle brush flowers, and the seemingly healthy indication Read more about My first possible pesticide incident, and sample collection. Part 1[…]
Drones started showing up in a big way after I put in a foundationless frame (with wooden comb guide) in the middle of my brood nest on 12/25/14. Over the last month I completely transitioned to foundationless too – comb production is going crazy! I have lots of healthy drones, as of about 3 weeks Read more about Transitioning to Foundationless frames, as the bees intended[…]
I call it the Zombeekeeper. Lil light hearted fun! Happy Halloween! Zombeekeeper Honey As nasty as it looks, coffee made for some pretty convincing Zombee honey. We had some fun entertaining colleague’s kids coming through the office. Too bad all the bees are dying in real life. Yep, that’s one of the robots I Read more about Zombeekeeper – Happy Halloween[…]
Why would anyone get into bee hive building? Well, because it’s really fun, hands on, satisfying and rewarding – a lot like beekeeping itself. My goal for building bee hives was actually to return all gear I borrowed from my friend by next spring, and have a full set of my own gear! The easiest Read more about Bee Hive Building – what to build, and not to build![…]
The final excitement I have to report was my first attempts at building a ventilated bottom for one of my hives, some novelty ‘runway entrances’, and this morning’s inspection which revealed 2 very healthy looking Queens. Here are the two colonies, the Dark Queen is on the left, the Golden Queen on the right. Here’s Read more about Honey Bee Hive Inspection[…]
Next day it was time to introduce the Beach Bees to their new home! There were a lot of bees packed together tightly, but their color was very similar to the other bees I am keeping. The real surprise was that unlike the Dark Queen, this colony from the beach turned out to have a Read more about Golden Queen of the Beach Bees[…]
Saturday I received an email from Todd saying he was out of town, and a swarm had been reported down on Cabrillo, and would I like to respond?! First chance to be a real Bee Rescue First Responder! Bees at the Beach Needless to say I quickly gathered up the gear I needed, and headed Read more about Bees at the Beach Rescue[…]
The next week I was privileged to meet again with Paul and assist him on a ‘bait out’ project, also pretty close to my place near the Mission. This one was right in the eaves of a really nice house that wasn’t currently being lived in. The bees had happily made a home on the Read more about Bait Out on a Roof Top[…]
The next day I was able to transfer the bees to a new deep above my doomed colony, combining the colonies – the Garage Bees would have a new Queen! Newspaper Technique for Combining Colonies I used the “newspaper separation” technique, so that the hives wouldn’t mix right away. The newspaper mostly prevents that by Read more about Combining Colonies and the new Dark Queen of the Bees[…]
Wow it’s been a busy 2 weeks for this new Beek, I’ve been part of a bee rescue twice, a bait out, 2 colony mergers and even started building my own hives! I’ll post each of the pieces of the epic story of all the fun if you’re interested – Better to Rescue Local Bees Instead of Read more about Bee Rescue from a Compost Bin[…]
Over the last few days I’ve been keenly watching the bees over breakfast every morning, and relaxing after work in the evenings strumming a little acoustic guitar from my chair near the hive. My neighbor is an elementary school teacher and is quite entertained by this – apparently she wants to write a children’s book after telling her Read more about Bees in a Queenless Hive[…]
Thank you Kate for your kind words! I’ve got a lot more frames I need to clean, and will definitely use your 3-day freeze advice! The gloves I was using were actually bee gloves I think – my friend loaned me all her gear including the gloves. That’s a super cool idea to upcycle kitchen Read more about The Queen is Key, but is she Alive?[…]
Following all of the Preparing and Repairing Bee Hives, it was time for a bee rescue! The night before, I prepared the backyard area, and started work on the garage panels (while bees were mostly sleeping) until un-neighborly hours. Planning and Execution of a Bee Rescue Sunday morning, myself and another friend (who recklessly/admirably agreed to help two nights before) Read more about A Cut Out Bee Rescue[…]
Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend! Mine was very productive – I spent time Friday with some of my beekeeping friends in Lompoc, and was able to borrow their bee suits and spare bee hives. Not all Bee Hives are New Saturday I very carefully cleaned the hives, frames, and comb. There were earwigs, moths, spiders, wiggly Read more about Preparing and Repairing Bee Hives[…]
Read up and make plans I’m excited about becoming a beekeeper! I read about it all night – looking at different hive designs, wondering if I can make a Langstroth frame myself with reclaimed (non treated) wood, reading up on regulations (SB city is very bee friendly), people’s experiences, Africanized bees etc. I like honey, and Read more about Becoming a Beekeeper. Getting Started[…]
A colony of bees arrived in my bee friendly backyard within the last month, and has made its home in the side wall of our garage between the insulation and the wood. Becoming a Bee Keeper I rent on the 1600 block of Chapala. I’m interested in beekeeping, and I think my landlord may allow me Read more about Bee-friendly garden, swarm arrived, started a hive in my garage wall[…]