It’s late summer in Phoenix and my bees are hungry. I’ve set out pollen substitute and they are rolling around in it like pigs in mud. It’s quite endearing really. I’ve also been feeding them sugar syrup off and on and I’ve noticed that some of my hives are not…
beekeeping
What’s the Best Fuel for Your Smoker?
This is a question that beekeepers each have an opinion on. New beekeepers often buy the pellets because that’s what is in the catalogs next to the smokers. But I have yet to meet a seasoned beekeeper who uses them, though I’m sure there are some. I’m more of a…
Frame Feeder Hack
Beekeeping is a learn-as-you-go experience. Some do a lot of reading and research up front and do a little better than others who jump right in (that’s me by the way.) Either way, you don’t know what you are doing until you do it, month by…
Trap-outs using a Bee Escape
I love learning new ways to remove bees from structures in order to rescue them from extermination. I’ve removed bees from trees with a forced abscond as well as with a cone mesh trap-out. Both of these were very successful, but haven’t been so lucky with block walls because cones…
Where to Get Bees
It’s springtime here in Arizona and everyone is “buzzing” to get bees. I’ve received lots of questions about how to start beekeeping. Coincidentally I have also had lots of requests for bee removals. I love it! In both cases people are showing an interest in helping bees. …
Struggling Hives
I love our community of Arizona Backyard Beekeepers! We share our questions, our solutions, our successes and our failures. It’s how we grow. If nobody ever lets us in on things they are struggling with, we end up thinking we are the only ones having a hard time. What…
Arizona Backyard Beekeepers: Fall and Winter hive care
Get your hives ready for an Arizona Winter Last night’s Arizona Backyard Beekeepers meeting was all about making sure we are ready to get our hives through the winter months. It sounds a little crazy when you say “winter” in central Arizona. We don’t have mounds of snow…
Hive Inspections: A checklist for how to do it and what to look for
The Importance of Hive Inspections One of the considerations before deciding to keep backyard bees in Arizona is the commitment to inspect your hives weekly. Other parts of the country can get away with doing monthly checks, but because of the constant threat of Africanization, we need to visit…
Getting Bees out of Trees
A Tale of Two Trees I love it when I can help remove bees from places where they aren’t wanted. Ceilings, walls, and floors are the usual places, and they require cutting things open and hours of hard, sweaty, sticky work. But when I was called to remove bees…
Releasing a Queen from a Push-in Cage
Observation is your best friend If you are following the re-queening of the rescue hive (HERE), then here we are at day 5 to release the queen. It is good to give the queen 4-7 days before trying to release her. If the bees show any aggressive behavior toward…