Archive | April, 2008

Bee Lessons: Drone Brood

25 Apr

Up on old man TJ’s roof where he keeps three hives in Albuquerque, I began my education.

This here’s a keen picture (TJ frequently peppers his speech with the word “keen”) illustrating the difference between brood and honey. How to identify drone brood

Drone brood pops up out the comb to accommodate the larger size of drone larvae. Later this week, I’ll post an annotated photo of worker brood so that you can see the difference.

Drone brood is fine. You want some drone brood in your hive, but too much and you won’t have enough workers to gather honey and maintain the hive. Too much drone brood might also be a sign that your queen is failing.

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Bad luck beekeeper

15 Apr

As if a bee swarm itself weren’t enough to turn a day bad, Jack from the Self-Sufficient Steward experienced a double-whammy this week.

So, I flunk basic beekeeping once – preempting the swarm is pretty rudimentary stuff and I blew it. But now I have a chance to really earn my beekeeping merit badge by capturing the swarm in the hive body I had prepared to split the colony. So I scramble around, calling in to some experienced beekeepers for advice and re-reading the ‘capturing the swarm’ section.

Then I hustle back out a full ten minutes later, ready for my trial by fire, to find….an empty branch.

Read more at the Self-Sufficient Steward

Most beautiful bee anatomy

2 Apr

Bee AnatomyI can never get enough insect diagrams