Amazing Honeybee Teamwork

The astonishing speed at which honeybees construct new comb, when they want to.

Hive Inspection – 20170907

Summary of hive inspections at Jehovah Jireh apiary, September 7, 2017. Today marks the end of a 24-day enforced brood break in Hive 2. We therefore released the existing queen from isolation. We originally planned to requeen today, using an egg frame from one of the other colonies. But we decided on advice from our mentor to leave the existing queen due to the lateness of the season. We administered the last of three planned powdered sugar sprinkles in all three hives. The sugar shakes and brood break are part of our attempt to bring the Varroa mite population down going into winter.

Hive Inspection – 20170830

Summary of hive inspections at Jehovah Jireh apiary, August 30, 2017. We are entering the third week of an enforced brood break in Hive 2. We administered the second of three planned powdered sugar sprinkles in all three hives. The sugar shakes and brood break are part of our attempt to bring the Varroa mite population down going into winter.

Our Plan of Attack Against Varroa Destructor Mites

We plan to use isolation frames I just built to prevent our queens from laying for 21 days, in order to break the brood cycle of the mites. We will combine with heavy smoking once a week to encourage grooming.

Happy Beeday to Us!

Announcement of the arrival of our first two colonies of honeybees.