Bee Classes🐝

It’s the winter and so many people ask me about classes and starting your hive in the Spring. Many of the bee clubs offer classes but I recently found that Central Maryland Beekeepers is offering their Beekeeping 101 class that will begin in March 2023. This is a great opportunity to have an in-person experience for a relatively low cost.

Beehive Move: July 2020

Here is a recently finished video of our movement bees from the nuc to regular hive.

Here are beekeeper terms that were used in this video:

  1. Bearding is a term referring to bees accumulating at the front of the hive, in a beard-like shape. Bees do this to make room inside the hive for added ventilation on a hot and humid day.
  2. Frame is a piece of equipment made of either wood or plastic designed to hold the honey comb.
  3. Hive tool is a metal device used to open hives, pry frames apart, and scrape wax and propolis from the hive parts.
  4. Nucleus is a hive of bees which consists of fewer frames than a typical hive and may be smaller in size. A nucleus usually consists of two to five frames of comb and used primarily for starting new colonies or rearing or storing queens; also called and commonly referred to a nuc.
  5. Smoker is a device in which materials are slowly burned to produce smoke (not flames) which is used to subdue bees. It is important to use a material that produces a cool smoke as not to harm the bees.
  6. Queen is a female bee with a fully developed reproductive system, and she is larger and longer than a worker bee.

Sunday Morning at Real Food Farms

I met Will one of the farm managers at the site to look at the hives. We discovered one of was lost during the winter.

Will was excited to see the honey frames and posed for me above. I will be back to the Farm because they have donated equipment to BeeMore for use and rehabilitation.

I will be holding an event here in May stay tuned for more information.

Have a great Sunday!

Michelle

Seedlings at Park Heights

People often ask me how and why I started beekeeping and BeeMore and it all goes back to the garden. This morning, I dropped by the offices before an Earth day event and I was inspired by these seedlings which started off like this…or probably more like this last summer

So it’s great to see the early evolution of these plants before we put them in the garden when the weather warms a but more.

Happy Earth Day!

Michelle

Extracting Honey – Part 1

Today, I started the honey extraction process. There are a few tools and items you want to have on hand when you are doing this process:

  • 8×10 Tarp (Camping Grade)
  • 5 Gallon Bucket (food grade w/ cover)
  • A Capping Knife or Tool
  • A few pairs of Disposable Gloves
  • A Honey Strainer or Mesh Bag
  • A Spatula
  • Newspaper, Plastic containers and other things to mitigate the mess.

Here is a link to a video that explains the steps I took to do this first extraction. I only did a few frames so, I will post additional updates on the process to share the efficiencies that I have found.

Just in case you missed it! Check out the Extraction Video

Michelle

 

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