Tag: basic beekeeping techniques

Inspecting a frame of brood.

To inspect a colony you must open it up and look inside (See Working with a Bee Colony). Once inside, pry the outside frame of the brood chamber loose.
Remove the frame from the body and hold it in front
of you with one hand on each end of the top bar. If
possible, position yourself so that the sun is shining
over your shoulder and onto the frame. Observe the
bees and the …

There are several methods to acquire bees,
including buying an existing colony, starting from
a small “nucleus” colony purchased from another
beekeeper, installing a package purchased from
a supplier, capturing a swarm and splitting an
existing colony. Let’s look closely at the latter three
possibilities.

Installing a Package of Honey Bees

Starting a honey bee colony with a package
purchased from a reputable producer is a good
way to insure the colony you have is healthy and of
a particular …

• The methods described here are illustrated in the following University of Minnesota Instructional Poster “Wrapping a Colony for a Northern Winter” Download a .pdf here.

Insulating colonies for winter can be worth the cost and effort in cold climates by insreasing winter survival. Here is one method to prepare colonies for winter:

1. The first step is to evaluate the colony in September for its wintering ability. It should have a young prolific queen, enough honey stores (75-95 lbs.), large …

• The methods described here are illustrated in the following University of Minnesota Instructional Poster “Smoker Maintenance” Download a .pdf here.

This shows the necessary maintenance needed to keep a smoker operating efficiently.

1. Do you remember how well your smoker
worked when you first bought it? Maybe it
did not stay lit but that was probably not the
smokers fault. All smokers need
maintenance to keep them operating
properly.

2. At some point your smoker will start to
give off …