Hive tools should be sharpened.Sharpening is easy maintenance but easy to skip doing as often as be
Hive tools should be sharpened. Sharpening is easy maintenance but easy to skip doing as often as beekeepers should be doing it. Sharp...
top of page
SnoKing Beekeepers Association
Classes, Networking & Support for Beekeepers
Search
eliochel
Apr 28, 20231 min read
Is a hive tool just a prybar? Different hive tools have different uses. Purchasing and trying an
Is a hive tool just a prybar? Different hive tools have different uses. Purchasing and trying an assortment is an inexpensive way to...
10 views
eliochel
Apr 27, 20231 min read
Does brood examination show something suspicious?
If a beekeeper sees anything odd about brood or the bees in a hive, s/he may leave the hive tool used to inspect that hive on the inner...
1 view
eliochel
Apr 27, 20231 min read
How fast is the sugar water fermenting in the hive?
Beekeepers keep feed close to the spring broodnest, so that the bees are encouraged to use it. Broodnest temperature must be maintained...
14 views
eliochel
Apr 26, 20231 min read
Rain dearth in Western Washington
Rain dearth exists also in other areas but is often ignored in beekeeping manuals, whereas drought dearth is usually discussed. In...
75 views
eliochel
Apr 26, 20231 min read
How to care for a poor quality nuc:
A nuc should contain a queen and at least 2 frames brood, about 2 frames honey and pollen stores, and the 5th frame is supplier’s choice,...
3 views
eliochel
Apr 16, 20231 min read
Nuc/package installation Tip #2 If the queen is caged, you must return in about 4 days to verify . .
If the queen is caged, you must return in about 4 days to verify the queen was released from the cage by the workers. If not released by...
6 views
eliochel
Apr 14, 20231 min read
Nuc or package installation Tip #1: What if the queen is dead?
When purchasing a package, you can not see the queen until you are actually installing the bees into their hive box. So, check the queen...
7 views
eliochel
Apr 13, 20231 min read
Nuc or package pickup Tip #5 The queen can not be inspected in a package, but in a nuc . . .
The queen can not be inspected in a package, but when purchasing a nuc, she can. If still in the queen cage, you can ask to see her. If...
3 views
eliochel
Apr 13, 20231 min read
Nuc or package pickup Tip #4 Although you should ask all possible questions BEFORE the pickup . .
Although you should ask all possible questions BEFORE the pickup time, do not leave with the nuc or package without asking about the...
4 views
eliochel
Apr 12, 20231 min read
Nuc or package pickup Tip #3 Ideally, bees are not transported in the passenger compartment . .
Ideally, bees are not transported in the passenger compartment of a car because a few will always fly around inside the car. If doing so,...
4 views
eliochel
Apr 12, 20231 min read
Nuc or package pickup Tip #2 Which openings of nuc container should be open or blocked?
With various kinds of nucs (cardboard, plastic, wood), it is not always clear which openings are for ventilation and which are entrances....
0 views
eliochel
Apr 12, 20231 min read
Nuc or package pickup Tip #1: Bees will be flying around the nucs and packages at the pickup site.
Bees will be flying around the nucs and packages when you go to pickup. Some may have escaped from the packages and nucs, but also, other...
5 views
eliochel
Apr 9, 20231 min read
Siting an apiary for maximum sunshine and minimum wind in winter may require choices:
When siting your apiary, you are trying to achieve maximum sunshine and wind protection, entrances that face east or southeast,...
2 views
eliochel
Apr 9, 20231 min read
When hives sink after heavy rains in Western Washington, here's an easy solution to re-level them:
The solutio This solutionn requires setup and the materials are expensive but once this type of hive stand is installed, the adjustment...
5 views
eliochel
Apr 8, 20231 min read
Another way to clean or sanitize your hive tool between uses:
While you are lighting the smoker and flaming the fuel to create embers that will last, burn the propolis, etc. off your hive tool, while...
2 views
eliochel
Apr 8, 20231 min read
Propolis is great for bees but how can we easily clean it off our hive tools?
The easiest system I have found, which also cleans hive tools so that they can't transfer diseases to the next hive inspected is a...
32 views
eliochel
Apr 8, 20231 min read
Where can we store the small beekeeping paraphernalia?
Not just hive tools, but the queen catchers, scissors, tape rolls (duct, painters, etc.), carpenter shims for leveling hives, pens &...
3 views
eliochel
Apr 7, 20231 min read
Historical confusion about honey bee reproduction is described in Storey’s Guide to "Keeping Bees"
2nd. edition, Macolm Sanford & Richard Bonney by listing the historical discoveries by date below. Look how far we have come! 1586 queen...
2 views
eliochel
Apr 4, 20231 min read
One single honey bee product makes more forms of art possible than any other animal product does.One
The first use of beeswax that comes to mind for most people is candlemaking and sculpting in wax. Next, one might think of the batik...
2 views
bottom of page