Beekeepers around the world have become frustrated with honey bee losses. Not only does it affect the pocket book but personal love for these insects. Bee Informed Partnership, among other things, performs annual loss reports. The past nine years (2008-2017) reports of 40.4% by Backyard and 28.1% loss by Commercial operations have proved challenging. […]
Yellow Jacket Wasp
HONEY BEE or YELLOWJACKET WASP? Wasps, an insect, are protein eaters typically of other insects like soft bodies caterpillars and spiders. They are beneficial predators as they clean our environment of dead bodies. The appear as skinny and shiny with no noticeable hairs on their bodies. They are carnivores, which we normally witness as […]
Swarms
Honey bee hives swarm to duplicate their hive. A means of survival. One would think the Queen’s egg laying was the colonies means of replication, but it only builds and maintains colony strength for the nectar flow season. To ensure the survivability of the bee race it must create a swarm for duplicity. Many in […]
American Foul Brood
Learn to identify American foulbrood in 90 seconds View of frame with American Foul Brood. American Foul Brood (AFB) is caused by Paenibacillus (=Bacillus) larvae, a spore-forming bacterium. Bacillus is a genus of gram-positive, rod-snapped bacteria and a member of the phylum firmicutes. Bacillus species can be obligate aerobes (requiring oxygen). Bacillus and related endoscope […]
Preparing For Spring Management
Preparing for Spring Management actually begins the moment the honey bee hive is secured for the long winter months. Preparing for winter losses becomes crucial to those in an expansion mode. Possibly preparing a Resource Hive (winter NUC) to repopulate hives that do not survive the arduous winter. Hives not surviving the wintry months often […]
Wintering Productive Colonies
Honey Bee Hive Optimal Winter Conditions Winter for the honey bee hive becomes the ultimate test against the other seasons’ activities coupled with health. Key elements necessary to support a healthy colony (climate regions coldest month 20 ° F) include: The wintering unit must have a good productive queen Worker population that covers 10 – […]
Feeding
Key to the honey bee health is nutrition! Us humans can weather many diseases if we practice good nutrition. Same goes for the bees. Honey bee nutrition comes from two sources – pollen and nectar. Feed 2:1 sugar syrup (that’s thick!) this time of year. You want them to store it. In spring, we feed […]
Honey
Honey is derived from Nectar whose main ingredient is disaccharide Sucrose. The honey bee breaks this sugar down into two simple sugars: glucose and fructose. “Rippened Honey” is the nectar that has been reduced to 16-19% water content and capped. If you have some frames that are a mixture of capped and uncapped cells of […]
My Goal
To help others succeed! If you would like a “Hive Inspection” coupled with some thoughts on how your apiary is doing, challenges, and future considerations; I will be there! Bringing a newborn child home from the hospital for the first time, in spite of all your preparation, is typically met with anxiety as the myriad […]
How Do We Differ?
We strive to provide more than a store front. Community education through our Honey Infused Lunches coupled with an Apiary Tour Beekeeping Classes from beginner to advanced Personalized hive inspections (No Cost) Much More! BG BEES will continue to grow in delivering beekeepers the necessary tools to reduce hive loss, reduce costs, and ultimately to […]