During early May all of our colonies
were checked and split into 2 if they were
strong enough.
Click
here for pictures on spring
beekeeping........
30 new colonies were created by
installing "Package Bees" - These
are packages of 2lbs of bees and a queen.
These packages came from California.
Click
here for pictures of package bee
installation.....
Colony
Collapse Disorder
Most beekeepers in our area lost a
lot of colonies over the winter. Many people
are now thinking these losses may be to a new
strain of "Nosema" disease. This
affects the digestive system of honey bees
and gives them dissentary.
Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD),
formerly called Fall Dwindle Disease, refers
to the unexplained disappearance and dying
off of many honey bee colonies being observed
across the United States. For more
information on CCD, click on these links:
*
The Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and
Extension Consortium (MAAREC)
* Bee-Alert
Technology's National Bee Loss Survey
May & June is the swarm
season and we always get a few calls to pick
up swarms. Honeybees swarm when they
get too crowded and then they leave with most
of the bees and the old queen. Queen cells
are left in the old location and the colony
will continue on. This is how nature replaces
itself.
We recently picked up a
local swarm and brought it home in a
cardboard box. I dumped them in an
empty hive body and every thing looked fine -
To me, anyway. The next day I checked them
and the bees were gone - they decided they
wanted to live somewhere else.
Click
here for info about a swarm that landed in
the vineyard a few years ago.......
Link
to: Why do honeybees swarm?.....
In July the colonies will be
checked again and more honey supers will be
added. Although we will start
removing some comb honey during the summer,
most of our crop will be harvested in the
fall.
Honey as a cough
suppressant for children over 12 months old.
Honey has been used as a home remedy
for centuries to help alleviate some of the
symptoms associated with a common cold.
Researchers from Penn State College
of Medicine have recently published a study
comparing honey to over-the-counter medicines
for relief of upper respiratory infection
symptoms, such as cough. To read the full
story, click
here......
Storing Honey
Storing honey is easy. Simply keep
it in a cool, dry, location away from direct
sunlight in a tightly covered container.
Honey tends to absorb moisture, which can
lower its quality. It is not necessary to
refrigerate honey. In fact, it's much easier
to handle if you don't. More...
