Keeping Bees in the City – Baltimore Beekeeping and Bee Services
Below are some quick photos of the new bee package install. I was bey lucky to get Warren to help me. This package was more robust than I thought so I may be able to do a split soon. I will put up a more detailed post shortly but this is a teaser for my spring installations.
Over the last few weeks, I started some flower seeds inside because of the recent Nor’easter. My hope is to get a jump start on the pollinator friendly plants.
I thought that I would share some tips on indoor planting that I found on the internet.
Good Luck 🍀
I will be getting my 1st set of new bees on April 7th. So look out for some new bee 🐝 posts.
Michelle
I am currently a taking the UME Baltimore City Master Gardener course and last week we talked about pollinators which is one of my favorite topics. It sparked me to look at my garden and what I plant. Last year, I planted sunflowers and they were great in my garden. I found that sunflowers attracted a myriad of bees and other pollinators.
This year as part of my work with BeeMore, I am going up my game a bit by planting additional sunflowers at different sites. I found some great resources on this and the ongoing Great Sunflower Project.
I will share more on my efforts to support Project Sunflower.
Michelle
Above is a quick video of the bees in🐝 Park Heights on a warm winter day this week! This is the one surviving hives from one of the other beekeepers at the site.
The temperature was over 70 degrees that day and there is some clover on the field. It’s was a great day for getting out of the hive.
Michelle
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:
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
Since its the winter and my post from the hives are limited. I wanted to add some interesting bee facts that I found on the internets.
Fun facts about bees:
I thought that some of these facts may be helpful getting to know more about the ever important bee.
Michelle
An interesting seminar being held in Washington, DC.
Join our sister school, the Washington Waldorf School, for a two session workshop on Biodynamic Beekeeping with Gunther Hauk of Spikenard Farm Honeybee Sanctuary on Friday, January 19th, 6:30pm-9pm, and Saturday, January 20th from 9:30am -12:30pm. The workshops are free, and more information can be found below. RSVP’s are required and can be made here. The Facebook event can be found here.
I started playing around with a new program Adobe Spark and it is a great tool! The program creates online slideshow videos, social media posts, and other great marketing items. Over the next few weeks, I will be developing new videos and presentations for BeeMore.
Check out our About BeeMore video and pass it on to your friends so that they can learn more about BeeMore.
Thanks!
Michelle
This morning, I ventured out to check on the hives and greenhouses after the deep freeze of the past two weeks. A found a few bees working in the hive which was a good sign. The white stuff is the sugar or bee candy that I made a few weeks ago.
Most of the vegetation in the area is still frozen from the frost but, its good to see that my bees persist. Even though 40+ degree weather feels balm to us because of the persistent cold, to the bees it’s just another winter day.
Stay Warm!
Michelle
