by Texas Homesteader ~
Sometimes your beehives still need to be fed during the winter months. There can be many reasons for this, including a late-season swarm reducing the number of worker bees in the hive, etc. But you don’t want to feed sugar/water syrup when it could freeze. Here’s what we do.
by Texas Homesteader ~
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Varroa Mites are a constant problem in beehives all over America. They are a small parasitic mite that will attach to the bee.
A female Varroa mite will enter a bee’s brood cell before it’s capped and lay her eggs there. By the time the bee emerges from her cell there are several mature Varroa ready to continue wreaking havoc on the hive.
The mite is large enough to see with the naked eye but DANG they’re still very small! But detection & treatment is important so into the hive we go!
by Texas Homesteader ~
Beekeeping is an ever-learning endeavor. We realize there is still much to learn and we’ll learn more as time goes by. Two very important things we’ve already learned are:
So monitoring your hive periodically for Varroa mites is important. Thankfully it’s also pretty easy to do. C’mon in, I’ll show you what we did for our Varroa mite inspection!
by Texas Homesteader ~
As new beekeepers, it was heartbreaking to see hundreds of dead bees beneath our hives. We didn’t spray pesticides to stop the advance of the Armyworms in our pastures. But someone within a 3-mile radius apparently did. Look at all the dead bees!
~TxH~
by Texas Homesteader ~
Many people are increasingly keenly interested in protecting the pollinators and getting into beekeeping. On this site I share a whole beekeeping series. But in this article I’m sharing how to tell when it’s time to expand your beehive.
by Texas Homesteader ~
This girl decided to photo-bomb my documentation of RancherMan smoking the hive. LOL
~TxH~
~by Texas Homesteader ~
Inspecting Beehives. We have the hives, we have the bees – what’s next? Come with us as we inspect the inside of the new bee hives!
~by Texas Homesteader ~
Last week we talked about the beekeeping preparation steps that were necessary before we ever obtained our first bees. There was lots to do: Educate ourselves on best beekeeping practices, join a local beekeeper’s association, decide where our hives will be located, prepare the location for the hives, obtain the beekeeping protective clothing and the bee hive expansion boxes and frames. RancherMan even built an elevated stand for the hives.
Then we used heavy-duty cattle panels to section off the hive pen from the cattle pen. All of these details are listed on last week’s Preparation Post, so if you haven’t read it be sure to check it out. But now that we’re all ready, let’s get those bees!
