Inspecting My Nucs with FatBeeMan Bees

Today (3 weeks after we hived his 2 lb packages) we checked on the progress of these colonies.  Note we put these in six-frame nucs that left room for a one gallon frame feeder.  In a portion of our nucs we added a pollen patty to determine whether it improved colony development (it did).  In a few of our nucs we ran out of feeders to let them fend for sugar on their own thanks to a healthy flow.

How We Assemble Frames With Our New Toy - VIDEO

 

After spend the morning with Don the FatBeeMan several weeks back, I saw some of his equipment and methods for building boxes and frames, including his nifty pneumatic stapler.  Wanting to stay ahead of the curve I purchased an inexpensive compressor and stapler set up from harbor freight tools.  The set up cost me about $100, but makes putting together frames a snap.  And versus assembled frames from our supplier Mann Lake (when bought in bulk) I can put together ten frames in about five minutes and save myself $7.00 per box.

We Visit NYC for Eight Installations - VIDEO

I think I have mentioned that my brother Ben is taking on some bee responsibilities in the Metro NYC area (especially Connecticut) as our new expansion area for the Georgetown Honeybee Company.  To establish a beach head we ran a Zozi promotion to get the word out.  We got eight hits on our urban beekeeping promotion.  However some are a little unclear about a trade area, and we ended up WAY outside NYC metro, logging in 370 miles over 12 hours of installations on a Sunday.

Our Newest DC Apiary/Nuc Nursery

Here is our latest apiary in a secluded site in Anacostia.  It was meant to be a site for 10 package installations of some of the bees we got from FatBeeMan,  but we got a little overzealous with our purchases and thus these nucs represent 20 package installations.

Kim Flottum Speaks to Urban Beekeepers

Bees have gone urban! But luckily there are plenty of city-dwellers looking for a part of that sweet beekeeping action. Kim Flottum, author of The Backyard Beekeeper and editor of Bee Culture magazine, spoke Monday night about the explosion of urban beekeeping and what hobbyists can do to ensure the trend doesn't fizzle out, but builds enough momentum to drive a movement.

Small Cell Bee Nucleus Colonies (FatBeeMan Stock) Available Soon.

We will have a limited number of 5-frame, deep small cell nucs of Don's bees (The Fat Bee Man) available for sale by (tentatively) the beginning of May.

These bees have been raised on Mann Lake PF-100 frames also used by Michael Bush for his small cell colonies.

These colonies will be sold in Brushy Mountain Bee Farm cardboard nuc boxes for pickup in Georgetown, DC.

Please email me at jeff@dchoneybees.com if you are interested in reserving one.

Jeff.

Pollen Smackdown: Honey vs. Allergies

You probably don’t need one, but here’s another reason to buy LOCAL honey. All you allergy sufferers should take a spoonful of honey everyday to combat your symptoms.

Our Visit with Don the FatBeeMan

Kaitlin and I drove 10 hours to Georgia last weekend to pick up 45 packages from Don of his well-regarded and treatment-free stock.  Noteworthy is the small cell foundation the bees are raised on...4.9 mm.  While unproven, there is a belief that work brood raised on small cell is more resistant to varroa mites and hive infestation.

Honeybee Swarms! VIDEO

They say that a swarm is an indication of a very healthy hive.  Well I must be doing something right as they seem to be popping up with many of our hives!

Our Big Weekend - 45 Packages Delivered and Installed - VIDEO

I started off for the day at 6:00am to make to hour-long trip to Stafford, Va to pick up bees from my friends at Rock Hill Bee Farm.  He drove up 650 packages, of which 45 had my name on them.  I'd love to learn his secret, how he gets all of them up on the back of of trailer, but need him and want him to succeed so happy to have him make the trip, especially as the bees came up very early this year.  We love March bees!

Super Bee Day

With nectar flow practically in full force, this weekend was the perfect time to put on a second super for my bees. I set up my beehive in October, which was a bit of a gamble, but with some luck -- and an extremely mild winter -- the bees are thriving.

Every morning this month they've been congregating at the entrance, almost as if they've run out of room within the one super. Hopefully this new one finds them well.

Two plants they've been all over this spring -- rosemary and a meyer lemon tree I keep in a pot on my deck. But, there's also plenty of trees in bloom, which is where bees get most of their nectar, as well as some early flowers.

For zone 7, the tree hotspots for bees right now are:
Star Magnolia
Saucer Magnolia
Dogwoods (just starting to blossom)
Fruit trees like plums and pears, and of course, CHERY TREES!

Due to the very favorable winter, the cherry blossoms arrived several weeks ahead of schedule -- much to the chagrin of the Parks Service, which counts on tourists to attend the festival -- but the bees will definitely benefit from the famous flowers. With all these nectar sources in full force, make sure to give your bees plenty of space so they'll have enough room for summer honey.

Kaitlin's Bee Exhibit

You have probably met Kaitlin before as she tends to be my sous when I am working with the bees and has appeared in many of our videos.  She has taken to beekeeping like a fish to water in spite of some adversity (read: stings) and has made it part of her own mission to continue to learn more while enlightening others.  At her school today she put on an exhibit that included our single-frame observation hive which attracted lots of attention.

Even More Great Press For The Bees - NBC4 Video

We made the news last evening:

View more videos at: http://nbcwashington.com.

Did a Little Rooftop Beekeeping Today

These are hives we have on the rooftop of the Mt Vernon Triangle Business Improvement District headquarters.  We started them out last season, and had one failure (which we replaced with a nuc) and one that went gangbusters.  They have survived the winter thanks to some mid-winter feeding and both were ready for a honey super.

Bees East of the Anacostia River

Today we set up our nucs at an undisclosed location in Anacostia, which is an under-served community in DC.  The location of this new apiary is far from human interaction and surrounded by plenty of forest, perfect for nursing nucs.