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Spring Is Sprung!

3/30/2018

 
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It took long enough but Spring appears to have finally arrived in DC.  Yesterday the weather was a perfect 77F and sunny day which the bees loved. I hope Spring has arrived for you too!

Snow? Really?

3/22/2018

 
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These are the views from the Second Story Apiary on the first and second day of Spring? Can you spot the difference between the two photos? If you spotted the beautiful coating of snow in the second photo you would be right!  We got over 4 inches of wet snow on the second day of Spring.  Happily, the cold doesn't seem to have hurt the blooms or the bees.  The bees were happily flying to and from the hive on the third, much warmer, day of Spring.

Bug's World Insect Fair

3/18/2018

 
Today I was at Bug's World, an all-about-insects fair sponsored by the Entomological Society of America at their 2018 conference held in Annapolis, Maryland. Hundreds of kids of all ages streamed through the event learning about the bugs in our backyards and how to create pollinator-friendly gardens. Visitors got an up-close look at tarantulas and other insects, saw a larger-than-life statue of a mosquito and learned how to make their gardens more bug-friendly and their homes less-so. My table celebrated honeybees and products of the beehive. ​​
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To tell the story of life inside a hive I brought a frame filled with honey held safely within a windowed display case so visitors could see what honey looks like when it is still in the honey comb. Few people had ever seen a frame full of honey before and asked lots of questions about it. I also brought a nucleus (aka five-frame) hive so that visitors could see what the inside of a hive looks. It was a great opportunity for visitors to not only see but also smell a beehive. Many people remarked that the inside of a hive smells like honey and beeswax!

Spring Swarm Prevention

3/3/2018

 
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Book Review: Swarm Essentials by Stephen J. Repasky

​It is a truth universally acknowledged that a beekeeper in possession of an overwintered hive must be in need of swarm prevention. Where does one go to learn the signs that one’s colony is preparing to swarm? Look no further than Stephen J. Repasky’s “Swarm Essentials: Ecology, Management, Sustainability” (2014 Wicwas Press).
As Spring approaches there is no better time to (re-)acquaint yourself with the biology of swarming (including its advantages and causes of swarming). Once you understand why bees swarm you can apply different strategies Repasky recommends to prevent swarming of your colony.
Even with the best of intentions sometimes you can’t dampen the instincts of bees to swarm so Repasky shares insights on how to manage the swarm when it happens as well as how to deal with the parent colony in its post-swarm state. Rounding out the book is a chapter on techniques for catching swarms illustrated with photos and tales of swarm catching adventures by the author.
Of all the things in this slim volume, my absolute favorite part is Appendix III “Beekeeper Decision Making Chart During Swarm Season.” This flowchart alone is worth the price of the book. I have a laminated photocopy of the flowchart and I make sure to bring it with me on every hive inspection I do from late March to late May.
Do yourself and your bees a favor in the next couple of weeks - get a copy of the book and read it from cover to cover so you can anticipate and manage (or mitigate) the 2018 swarm season for your colony. Long live the queen!

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