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We did it! Minecraft has beeeeeeeeeeeeeeees!!!!

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We made a small extraction from our strongest hive this spring. After using enough to make 4 gallons of mead, this is what was left over. :)

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The lovely queens from two of my four colonies. Another had a virgin queen that I spotted, but she wasn't laying yet. The biggest colony may be queenless at the moment. I didn't spot a virgin or eggs when I checked today, but last week they had begun breaking down old queen cups. I'll give them another week to see if they did have a virgin queen hiding, otherwise I may need to introduce some eggs from another hive or locate a mated queen. Fun. In other news, I pulled about 6 frames of capped honey from the big colony last week and extracted about 25 pounds of honey from them. They probably still have around 60 pounds in the hive at the moment. We're going to be using the majority of what we took to make mead. Im very excited!

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I would recommend reading up on bees as much as you can, getting your equipment ready, and then taking the time to catch a swarm of bees, rather than buying a package (very bad) or a nuc (good, but more expensive).

Hello! I love bees very much and am very interested in becoming a beekeeper but I’m not sure how to go about it. I googled it but I would rather get a quick answer from an actual beekeeper! Thank you!

Things you need to be a beekeeper:

-bees

-unflinching confidence

Things you need to be a beekeeper comfortably:

-bees

-hive

-hive tool

-bee suit

-smoker

The hardest part to get is usually the bees, but my first bees came from a fire hydrant in my neighborhood. They were just sitting there. For the taking.

If you know where to source your bees, then the next hardest part to get is probably hives. I bought a few of mine, then made a bunch, then inherited a bunch. Basically if you’re a beekeeper you’ll get more hives eventually.

The hive tool, smoker, and suit you can usually get online, but I’ve had to use a mini crow-bar(hive tool), bundle of pinestraw and leaves(smoker), and a kids mesh backpack(veil) and hoodie(suit) as equipment before, so it’s possible to do it without buying a thing.

After you have what equipment you need, all that’s left is to take care of those bees! Just leave them in your hive, and check up on them on a comfortable interval like once every week and a half or so. Some people check every week, but if you check too often the bees can get stressed out and leave or have other problems. I typically put at least a week between checkups, sometimes much more time. With some of my hive that I know are super resistant to certain problems, I give them more time; but with hives that are new to me or they are weak, I sometimes check every 5 days or so, sometimes sooner.

You can also become a keeper of bees just by providing a place for them to stay! A hollowed out log with a few holes works great for honeybees. A thick block of wood with a bunch of different sized holes drilled in it works great for solitary bees! (Every real beekeeper helps their native bees too. It’s just how that works.)

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So good

Detective Pikachu leaked

And it’s really good. Take a watch

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how do u actually save bees?

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Due to schedules being hellish and having to contend with two small children, it gets tough to check our colonies with any regularity. Today we managed to get out to the hives and while I was elbow deep in another colony, the ladies from Purple decided to swarm! Guess we were a little too late to split them, haha. We saw it happen from start to finish and it was intense to behold. They landed about fifteen feet up in the crabapple tree that overlooks the apiary and we had to cut a rather large bough so we could lower them to the ground. Thankfully, we were able to get a sheet on the grass and had another hive body ready to go. The only concern I have is that we're lacking in drawn comb. Undrawn will have to do. At the very least, they seemed like they were accepting of the new box when I went out to check on them an hour or so after cutting them out of the tree. Fingers crossed; and we didn't get stung!

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Some folks around here dip their hive boxes in beeswax instead of painting them. I've heard it works really well

The bees are steaming!

Yeah I know it’s the sunshine, but in the colder season you can actually see them causing steam to come off of the hive if it is allowed to get wet.

In the summer time this is a good thing. It means that they are staying cool by evaporating the water away.

In the winter time this is a super super bad thing. It means that they are losing heat too fast and are having to work harder to heat up the hive.

Regardless of the season, it is typically better for the bees to paint your hive boxes to keep moisture out. Not only can moisture cause mold problems (and cause nosema, chalkbrood, and other problems,) but it also makes it much harder for the bees to regulate the hive’s internal temperature.

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Dratini or ghastly for me.

idk why but it makes me uncomfortable 2 see someone’s final Pokémon team w/out their starter…..like, u guys started out together as a team..how could u betray ur day1 like that?.,,

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Goldenrod

everyone is this orange or yellow

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"Wooo woo wooo wooo woo woo woo..."

inflatable coo sack

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according to cornell couch’s kingbird is the least popular species of bird in the US. so here’s a couch’s kingbird appreciation post

x

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Beegg

Bee Egg

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The bees are doing well! Here is a shot at the ladies from Purple!