Brookfield Farm Beekeeper Karen Bean
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Tag Archives: bees
Honeybee Food Foraging : Where? Why? How Far?
I get asked a lot at market: how do you know that the bees actually went to “that” honey. “That” honey may be Buckwheat, Alfalfa/Wildflower, Fireweed/Wildflower, or Wildflowers of particular regions in Washington State. Really it is all about flight … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Honeybee Biology, Honeybees -interesting stuff
Tagged Beekeeping, bees, Brookfield Farm, distances, find, flight, food, forage, honeybees, how, Maple Falls, Washington
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How Honeybees Smell
Scent means a lot to bees. They use their sense of smell to check queen quality, sort out friend from foe, locate their hive or new hive after swarming, and find forage. Their sense is so acute that they can … Continue reading
Posted in Honeybee Biology, Honeybees -interesting stuff
Tagged bees, Brookfield Farm, honeybees, how, Maple Falls, scent, smell, Washington
2 Comments
Harvesting Honey, Treating Hives
Harvesting Honey, Treating Hives Posted on September 13, 2014 by brookfieldfarmhoney I have been pulling honey and putting thymol on the hives this last week. This blog’s been silent for quite a few weeks. July and August simply got out of … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Brookfield Farm Bee Yards, Diseases and Pests, Farm
Tagged Beekeeping, bees, Brookfield Farm, harvest, honey, honeybees, how to, Maple Falls, Mount Baker, natural, pack goats, treatments, Washington
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New Queens In New Hives
The queen bees have come – with more still coming. The first queens have been placed in their hives (the splits I wrote about in the previous blog post), and are laying. This post covers how I put them in … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Uncategorized
Tagged Beekeeping, bees, boxes, Brookfield Farm, honeybees, install, Maple Falls, queen, Washington
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Making and Moving Bee Hive Splits
Every year I raise and purchase queen bees, each of which requires her own hive. Thus every year I make and move splits (also known as artificial swarms). I use the “over night split” method to make the splits. The … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Hive Components
Tagged bee hive, Beekeeping, bees, Brookfield Farm, how to, make, Maple Falls, move, splits, Washington
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Preparing for Splits and Supers
Spring is upon us. Flowers are blooming, drones are flying, it is time to put supers on the hives and/or split some of the hives to create homes for the newest queens. What follows are photographs of what I am … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Hive Components
Tagged bee, Beekeeping, bees, boxes, Brookfield Farm, cleaning, frames, Maple Falls, order, spits, supers, Washington
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Why We Are Leaving the Bellingham Farmers Market on June 30
Honesty can be a hindrance to business it seems. We sell raw honey from naturally-treated, antibiotic-free Washington state hives. Some of this honey is from our hives here in Whatcom County (northwest Washington state). Some of this honey is from … Continue reading
Posted in Bee Business
Tagged antibiotic free, bees, Bellingham, Brookfield, Farm, Farmers, hives, honey, leaving, Maple Falls, Market, natural, raw, Washington, why
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Two Hives In One
I am going though all of my hives right now – more on the “what I do” in the next blog – but I thought my “two hives in one” moment was quite interesting. FALL 2013 : NO QUEEN? MERGE … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Brookfield Farm Bee Yards, Queen Rearing : Honeybees
Tagged Beekeeping, bees, Brookfield Farm, hive, honeybees, Maple Falls, over winter, queens, two, Washington
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Snow At The Hives
The February snows have arrived. I woke up last Sunday to the realization that a bit of snow had fallen and it was not going to stop. That slowed things down a bit this week, thus this photo essay of … Continue reading
Posted in Brookfield Farm Bee Yards, Farm
Tagged beehives, bees, Brookfield Farm, livestock guard dogs, Maple Falls, snow, Washington, Winter
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Mites That Might Eat Mites
Last July, I heard though the grapevine that Stratiolaelaps scimitus, a predatory mite formally known as Hypoaspis, were available locally. These little darlings eat mites, potentially varroa mites. (A side note: links to photograph sources are in text under the … Continue reading
